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THE 



FALL OF THE STUARTS 



AND 



WESTERN EUROPE 



^^ 



FROM 1678 TO 1697 



* 



THE REV. E. HALE, M.A. 

ASSISTANT-MASTER AT ETON 



"WITH MAPS AND PLANS 



NEW YOEK: 

CHAELES SCEIBNEE'S SONS, 

1887. 






n 9t HH 



PREFACE. 



»>•<« 



This little sketch is intended to form an easy 
introduction to the study of the period. Those who 
have not taught the young themselves will hardly 
know how difficult it is to.^make such an introduction 
sufficiently easy and simple. 

It is to be hoped that the reader will supplement 
this meagre outline of a great *^ epoch." He will 
naturally turn first to Lord Macaulay's "History of 
England," and his essay on Sir W. Temple. At the 
same time he will do well to study carefully Hallam's 
'** Constitutional History," chapters 12 — 15. For 
contemporary writings, Burnet's "History of his 
Own Times/' and the rich mine of Evelyn's Me- 
moirs are readily accessible. 

To these should be added Ranke's "History of 
the Seventeenth Century," vols. 3 — 6 (lately trans- 
lated) ; for Continental history, H. Martin's "His- 



vi Preface, 

toire de France/* vols. 13 and 14; for religious 
history, Principal TuUoch's *' Rational Theology in 
England in the Seventeenth Century;" for military 
details and plans of battles in the Netherlands, there 
is much to learn from Sir F. Hamilton's " History 
of the Grenadier Guards," to which I wish to ex- 
press my own obligations, as also to my friend and 
late colleague, the Rev. William Wayte. 



Eton College, March 1876. 



Cal] 
Titl 



Vol. 
Date' 

Specj 

! 
7-36 



^Cl-i:\-'^ M« 



.ini"3:^:JBfii 



1679. 



7th 



PAGE 
I 

3 
5 



'ge. 



ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 

England in 1678. Discontent 

Danby and Shaftesbury . 

The Popish Plot . 

Fall of Danby .... 

Third Parliament of Charles II. Habeas 

Corpus .... 
Whigs and Tories . 
Meal-tub Plot 
Conventiclers in Scotland. Bothwell Briggs . 



14 
17 



18 
20 
21 

26 

29 

33 

36 

37 



vi Preface. 

toire de France,** vols. 13 and 14; for religious 
history, Principal TuUoch's "Rational Theology in 
England in the Seventeenth Century;" for military 
details and plans of battles in the Netherlands, there 
is much to learn from Sir F. Hamilton's *' History 
of the Grenadier Guards," to which I wish to ex- 
press my own obligations, as also to my friend and 
late colleague, the Rev. William Wayte. 



Eton College, March 1876, 



LIBRARY OP CONGRESS - BINDING REC( 

DA435.H2 1887 2- 

Call No. Date 

^Mthor HALE ^ 

Title FALL OF THE STUARTS & WESTERN EUB 
TO 1697 



Vol. 



Date 



Specs. 



Copy 



N( 
Dl 



Block & Item 



Reblnd style C. Fold out material 



7-56 (rev V72) 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 



PAGE 

1678. Wars of Europe in the first half of the 17 th 

century ....... i 

Peace of Nimwegen, 1678 . . . .3 

Lewis XIV. and France, 1678 ... 5 
The United Provinces and William of Orange, 

1678 .14 

Germany and Spain, 1678 . . . .17 



CHAPTER II. 

ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 

England in 1678. Discontent . . .18 

Danby and Shaftesbury 20 

The Popish Plot 21 

Fall of Danby 26 

1679. Third Parliament of Charles II. Habeas 

Corpus ....... 29 

Whigs and Tories 33 

Meal-tub Plot 36 

Conventiclers in Scotland. Bothwell Briggs . 37 



Vlll 



Contents, 



1680. 



1681. 



CHAPTER III. 




rH AND FIFTH PARLIAMENTS OF CHARLES. — 


STATE TRIALS. 






PAGE 


Exclusion Bill 


. 42 


Lord Stafford ' . . . 


. 45 


Oxford Parliament, 168 1 


. 45 


Charles II. and the Whigs 


. 47 


Archbishop Plunket 


. . 48 


Stephen College .... 


. 49 


Shaftesbury indicted 


. 50 



CHAPTER IV. 

SCOTLAND IN 1680 AND 1 68 1. 

1680-81. The Cameronians . . . . 
1 68 1. The Scotch Parliament and Ax-gyle 



52 
54 



CHAPTER V. 

ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND FROM 1 682 UNTIL THE DEATH OF 
CHARLES II., 1685. 

1682. William of Orange, James, Duke of York, and 

the Duke of Monmouth . . . .56 
1682-83. Attacks on the Charters of the Corporations . 58 

1683. Rye House Plot 60 

1684. Duke of York reinstated in office , , ,66 

1685. Death of Charles II 68 



CHAPTER VI. 

LEWIS XIV. AND FRANCE TO THE REVOCATION OP THE EDICT 
OF NANTES, 1 685. 

1678-81. Chambers of Reunion ..... 70 
1681-84. Ambition of Lewis XIV 72 



Contents. ix 

PAGE 

1675-85. The Huguenots and Revocation of the Edict 

of Nantes 74 

CHAPTER VII. 

ACCESSION OF JAMES II. OF ENGLAND. 

1685, The Policy of James on his Accession . . 80 

James II. and Lewis XIV. . . .82 

Parliaments in England and Scotland . . Zt^ 

Trials of Oates, Dangerfield, and Baxter . 86 

CHAPTER VIII. 

REBELLIONS OF ARGYLE AND MONMOUTH. 

The Refugees in Holland . . .88 

Expedition of Argyle . ■ . . ,90 

Expedition of Monmouth . . '95 

The Bloody Assize .... loi 

CHAPTER IX. 

FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC POLICY OF JAMES II. 

1685. Second Session of the Parliament of 1685 . 103 

1686. League of Augsburg . . . .105 
Home Policy of James, 1686. Dispensing 

Power ..... 107 

1687. James and the Universities . . .112 
The Autumn of 1687 • • . .114 

CHAPTER X. 

IRELAND UNDER JAMES II. 
1660-85. Preliminary Sketch of Ireland . .1x6 

1685. Ireland at the Accession of James II. . .1x8 



K Contents. 

PAGE 

1686-87. Clarendon and Tyrconnel . , .119 

1687. Tyrconnel as Lord Deputy of Ireland . .120 



CHAPTER XI. 

WILLIAM, LEWIS, AND JAMES, 1 687-88. 

William corresponds with the Disaffected in 

England . , . . .122 

October, 1687 . . . . .124 

1688. Trial of the Seven Bishops . . .125 

Invitation to William . . . .129 

James after the Acquittal of the Bishops . 13 1 
Lewis XIV. declares War against the Emperor 133 

Proclamation of William . . '134 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE REVOLUTION. 

William in England . , , '138 

Progress of the Revolution . . .140 

Lord Churchill . , . . 141 

Attempt of James to fly , . , 143 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE INTERREGNUM. 

1688. James leaves England .... 146 

1689. The Convention . . , .150 
The Revolution in Scotland . . .152 

1688-89. The Revolution in Ireland . . .154 

Devastation of the Palatinate by Lewis . 155 



Contents. xi 



CHAPTER XIV. 

FIRST YEAR OF THE REIGN OF WILLIAM AND MARY. 

PAGE 

1689. William's first Ministers . . . 158 

The Nonjurors and Proceedings in Parliament 159 

Scotland in 1689. Killiecrankie . .165 

Ireland in 1689. Londonderry . . 168 

1689-90. The Grand Alliance . . . .176 

CHAPTER XV. 

WILLIAM III. AND IRELAND. 



1690. The English Parliament in 1690 
Victory of the Boyne . 
Lord Torrington 
William leaves Ireland 
Marlborough in Ireland 
Campaign in the Netherlands, 1690 



178 
181 
186 
188 
190 
191 



CHAPTER XVI. 

PACIFICATION OF IRELAND AND SCOTLAND. 

169 1. Ireland — Limerick , . , .192 
Scotland — Glencoe . . . .198 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE WAR: 1 69 1 TO 1694. 

Congress at the Hague .... 202 
Campaign of 169 1 . . . . 203 

1692. Campaign of 1692. La Hogue and Steinkirk . 206 

1693. Campaign of 1693. Neerwinden . . 212 

1694. Campaign of 1 694 . . . .218 



Xll 



Contents. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

DEATH OF QUEEN MARY — PARLIAMENT UNTIL 1 696. 21 9 

CHAPTER XIX. 

VARIOUS PLOTS AGAINST WILLIAM. 

1691-92. Disgrace of Marlborough . . . 225 

1692-95. Plots of Fuller, Grandval, and Chamock . 227 

1695. Campaign of 1695. Capture of Namur by 

William ..... 230 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE NEW PARLIAMENT — THE ASSASSINATION PLOT — THE 
PROGRESS OF THE WAR — THE PEACE, 



1695-96. 


The Session of 1695-6 


xxi£< i:iut 


. 232 


1696. 


Assassination Plot 




. 234 




Campaign of 1696 




. 237 


1696-97. 


The Session of 1696-7 




. 238 


1697. 


The Peace of Ryswick, 


1697 . 


• 239 



CHAPTER XXI. 
Literature and Science in England and France in 

THE latter part OF THE SEVENTEENTH 

Century ..... 244 



MAPS AND PLANS. 



ermany, Holland, and the Spanish Netherlands 

to face Title 

[ap of Flanders and Brabant . . • " P- 204 

.rgyle's Campaign page 91 

lonmouth's Campaign . . . - . . .94 

attle of Sedgemoor 100 

/illiam's Campaign in the West of England . 137 

ampaign in North-east of Ireland — Battle of the 

Boyne 175 

Western Ireland ....... 194 

lencoe 200 

attle of Steinkirk 211 

attle of Neerwinden 215 



THE 

FALL OF THE STUARTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Section I. — Wars. 



The history of western Europe in the seventeenth cen- 
tury is a history of wars. 

" Wars destroy the morals of mankind by habituating 
them to refer everything to force, and by necessitating 
them so often to dispense with the ordinary 
suggestions of sympathy and justice." This o™ware.'^ 
is true of wars in general ; but the demora- 
lizing effect is much greater if wars are civil wars ; or 
religious wars — wars, that is, between fellow-citizens to 
serve the ends of some political party, or to enforce the 
observance of some political truth; or wars between 
fellow-Christians to force all to follow some religious 
creed. Moral virtues are in these cases uprooted ; mil- 
itary virtues, which may exist in the most depraved 
man or state, flourish. 

The era of the great Protestant Revolution ushered in 
the period of religious wars, 

France was devastated by religious and civil wars 
combined in the latter half of the sixteenth, and in the 

B 



t 



2 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. 

beginning of the seventeenth century. It took part in the 

Thirty Years' War of Germany (1618-1648) ; it was again 

the theatre of the civil war of the Fronde, in 

Religious , . , . , , , 

and civil which aimless attempts were made to oppose 

France Ger- the absolutism of the French crown ( 1648- 
E^T'nd"'^ 1653)- Germany was almost ruined by its 
great civil and religious Thirty Years' War. 
England had also suffered in its great civil and partly 
religious war, which ended in 1648, with the execution of 
Charles I. 

The great principle of religious toleration was un- 
known in the sixteenth century, and taught without sue- 
Eeligious ^^^^ ^Y ^ ^^^ great thinkers in the seven- 

persecu- tccnth ccntury. Men believed great truths, 

tions. . , . , , ° , 

by believmg which they thought they se- 
cured their salvation, and they deemed it their bounden 
duty to make others believe, in order that they too might 
be saved. So not merely were wars undertaken for the 
sake of religious tenets, but within the several countries 
there were persecutions of Christians by Christians, of 
Englishmen by Englishmen, Frenchmen by Frenchmen, 
Germans by Germans, 

Nevertheless it is only through the fire of religioug 

and civil wars, and of religious persecutions, 
come of the that the cause of religious and civil liberty 
InSl comes out triumphant. The fall of the 

wars and Stuarts, of which we shall treat, is an event 

persecu- 
tions, in the successful struggle for civil and reli' 

gious liberty. 

The latter half of the seventeenth century was occu- 
pied by wars of a less demoralizing character than civil 
and religious wars ; by wars undertaken by 
o?pow^'r ""^^ one man, Lewis XIV., to obtain certain per- 
sonal ends. These ends were the suprema- 



1678. Peace of Nimwegen. 3 

cy of Western Europe, the Imperial crown, and the suc- 
cession to the throne of Spain. Of what befell Lewis in 
his attempts to secure the supremacy of Western 
Europe, and how the "balance of power" was event- 
ually righted, we shall also treat. 

Section II. — Peace of Nimwegen, 1678. 

The sovereigns of the principal states of Europe in 
1678 were: — Leopold of Hapsburg, Emperor; Lewis 
XIV.. King of France; Charles II., King . , _ 

° ' _ _ ** A. D. 1678. 

of England ; Charles IL, King of Spain ; Sovereigns 
William, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder or Europe. 
Governor of the United Provinces of Holland. 

Holland and England were the great naval powers ; 
France coming next to them, and then Spain. 

Lewis XIV. having designs on the independence of 
the United Provinces of Holland, prevailed on Charles 
II. of England to join him in declaring war ^g^jg ^f 
on Holland in 1672. In England the war !X^"<;^ ^"i^ 

' ° Charles of 

was SO unpopular that when a parliament England 

A • /■ • 1 , . make war 

was summoned m 1673 m order to vote sup- with Hoi. 
plies to carry on the war, the majority in it, ^'^'^^' '^^T^' 
opposed to the policy of Charles and his ministers, drove 
the ministry from power, declined to vote 
further supplies and forced the king in 1674 makes 
to make peace with Holland. peace, i. 74. 

The Emperor Leopold and Charles XL, King of Spain, 
alarmed for the safety of their dominions, 

■' Germany 

which were threatened by the success of and Spam 
Lewis against Holland, concluded an al- against 
liance with the United Provinces. France. 

Although the private intrigues of Lewis XIV. with the 
King of England kept that country neutral, the sym- 
pathies of the English nation were so strongly excited on 



4 The Fall of the Stuarts y b'c. a.d. 

behalf of the Dutch and their Stadtholder William of 
Orange, that it became evident to both Lewis and 
Charles that this neutral position could not long be 
maintained. Lewis, by the aid of his ambassador, Baril- 
lon, attempted to foment dissensions amongst the popu- 
lar party in the parliament by bribery, the means which 
_ , ^ he had hitherto effectually employed with 

England i i • • • t-> i • 

mediates for Cliarles and his mmisters. But his success 
P^^^^- was not sufficient to warrant him in advising 

Charles to oppose the wishes of the nation. In 1677 
William of Orange married Mary, elder of the two 
daughters of James, the Duke of York and heir pre- 
sumptive of Charles IL, and thus had claims of relation- 
ship on cliarles, which in the seventeenth century, were 
considered by politicians more binding than they are now. 
Charles and Lewis consequently agreed that the former 
should become the mediator for a peace, by which 
France should profit, Holland should not suffer, and the 
pride of the English should be gratified by the prominent 
position which their country should occupy in the nego- 
tiations. After many difficulties, overcome chiefly by 
the diplomatic tact of Sir William Temple, the English 
ambassador at the Hague on the one hand, and by that 
of the plenipotentiary of Lewis on the other, a treaty was 
signed August 10, 1678. 

This treaty put an end to the war. It was called the 

Peace of Nimwegen, (Nimeguen), from the smalltown 

on the frontier between Holland and Ger- 

PdCC of 

Nimwegen, many where it was signed. The treaty was 
^^^^' drawn up in French, although Latin had 

hitherto been the diplomatic language, and this is an 
important fact in diplomatic history, as marking the 
claim of supremacy in Europe put forth by France. 
The results of the treaty were that the United Pro- 



1678. Lewis XIV. and France. 5 

vinces of Holland retained their integrity, Maastricht 
being restored to them, so that the bound- Territorial 
aries of the state governed by William of results of 

. , . 1 . , the peace. 

Orange were almost identical with those 
of the present kingdom of the Netherlands. France, 
however, kept its conquest of Senegal and Guiana, and 
these settlements were the sole loss of Holland at the 
conclusion of a terrible war which had threatened to 
annihilate her. The United Provinces agreed to be 
neutral in any war which might continue between France 
and any other powers, and guaranteed the neutrality of 
Spain. Treaties of commerce between France and Hol- 
land, conferring equal privileges on both nations for 
twenty-five years, were also signed. France gained from 
Spain, a declining power, and therefore the principal 
suffers, Franche Comte (part of the old duchy of Bur- 
gundy, now forming the French departments of Haute 
Saone, Doubs, and Jura) ; and the towns of St. Omer, 
Valenciennes, Gassel, and the adjacent districts, some- 
times called French Flanders, and forming the depart- 
ment of the Nord. Spain retained that part of her do- 
minions in the Netherlands which is almost conterminous 
with the present kingdom of Belgium. Lothringen (Lor- 
raine) was restored to its duke, and again formed one 
of the states of the Empire, although practically deprived 
of its independence by being obliged to keep up for Lewis 
four military roads, each two miles broad, and also to give 
up its two fortified towns, Nancy and Longwy. It was at 
the time of the peace of Nimwegen that the power of 
France, and the glory of Lewis XIV., were at their height. 

Section III. — Lewis XIV. and France. 

Lewis XIV. was, when the peace of Nimwegen was 
signed, forty years old ; his figure was handsome, his 



6 The Fall of the Stuarts^ ^'c. a.d. 

manners were engaging, although at the 

Character of . ,, . , ° _ ° , . ., 

Lewis XIV. same time dignihed. He had an excellent 
constitution, and was able to endure fatigue, 
cold and hunger. He was not easily moved to anger, 
nor easily dispirited. These being his natural gifts, he 
himself, in his " Memoires historiques," tells us the 
chief motives which influenced his actions. 

He had the most exalted idea of the kingly office. "It 
is the will of God,'' wrote he, " who has given kings to 
men, that they should be revered as His vicegerents, He 
having reserved to Himself alone the right to scru- 
tinize their conduct." "It is the will of God that 
every subject should yield to his sovereign an implicit 
obedience." "All property within the nation belongs 
to the king by virtue of his title." " Kings are absolute 
lords." "L'Etat — c'est moi." (The State — I am the 
State.) 

His ambition was unbounded. "Self-aggrandizement," 
he writes, "is at once the noblest and most agreeable 
occupation of kings. " 

Magnificence in daily life, and in pleasures, involving 
the greatest extravagance, was thus upheld by him — "A 
large expenditure is the almsgiving of kings." 

His habitual disregard of treaties was not the result of 
dishonesty or fickleness, but was the deliberate design 
of one who preferred pleasant manners to sincerity, who 
condemned a noble to exile with a sweet smile, and 
bowed with infinite grace to a courtier who before night- 
fall was on the road to prison. " In dispensing," he 
says, " with the exact observance of treaties, we do not 
violate them ; for the language of such instruments is 
not to be understood literally. We must employ in our 
treaties a conventional phraseology, just as we use com- 
plimentary expressions in society. They are indispensa- 



i6'jS. Lewis XIV. and France. 7 

ble to our intercourse with one another, but they always 
mean much less than they say. " 

Lewis' intellectual powers were good, but not extraor- 
dinary. He was a man of strong opinions, of strong will, 
of strong health, a practical man of business, but not an 
originator, a governor rather than a statesman. 

His private life was regulated by his pleasures ; he, as 
a king, was subject to none of those laws which rule the 
lives of ordinary mortals, but his desires were never too 
strong to make him forget his ambitious designs. 

From his mother, Anne of Austria, daughter of Philip 
HI. of Spain, he inherited the Spanish fondness for ce- 
remony and etiquette. Most of the European monarchs 
copied Lewis, and many of the silly and unmeaning cere- 
monies still practiced in some continental courts may 
thus be traced to a Spanish source. 

Lewis was a sincere Roman Catholic, but he never 
allowed his religious feelings to weaken his belief in the 
prerogatives of a king. He kept the temporalities of the 
Church in his own disposal. He was for all practical 
purposes as much the head of the Galilean Church, the 
Church of France, as Henry VIII. had been of the Eng- 
lish Church. 

His most trusted ministers were Colbert and Louvois ; 
but, as Lewis was an absolute monarch, they were re- 
sponsible to no one but their master ; both , . . 

. , . . . Lewis 

alike were ministers dependent on his will, ministers, 
but they were directly opposed to each Louvois. 
other on all questions of home or foreign 
policy. There was an unceasing struggle between Col- 
bert and Louvois. During the war just ended, Colbert 
was continually advising Lewis to make peace ; and, 
now that the peace was concluded, Louvois was contin- 
ually urging him to renew the war. This difference 



8 The Fall of the Stuarts i ^'c. a.d. 

which existed between them was a natural result of their 
respective duties. To Colbert was entrusted by Lewis 
the direction of finance, commerce, public works, and 
the colonies ; to Louvois was given the post of minister 
of war. 

On one point Colbert and Louvois was agreed, and 
that was in the employment of Vauban, the great master 
,^ , , of the art of fortification. By Vauban "^oo 

Vauban. the _ . . . , , ., . , 

military Frcnch fortresscs were either built, repaired, 

engineer. ^^ enlarged. These fortresses were designed 

chiefly for the defence of the French frontiers, which 
offered, and more particularly on the north-east, many 
vulnerable points. Colbert for his part looked on the 
money expended in carying out Vauban's plans, as sunk 
in insuring against the possibility of a war, which might 
be brought about by the temptation offered to a strong 
power of overrunning the north-eastern provinces of 
France, some of the richest provinces of the kingdom. 

Colbert was a man of unimpeachable integrity, of great 
industry, and of bold and inventive genius. His political 
_ , theories may now appear antiquated, but 

finance. they prevailed universally for many genera- 

tions, and by some French statesmen of the 
present day Colbert is considered the great authority on 
all national financial questions. His leading idea was to 
protect native produce and industry by placing heavy 
duties on exports, so heavy as to be almost prohibitory, 
and in some cases stopping importation altogether. To 
give an example. He allowed corn to be exported only 
when there had been an abundant harvest. If he anti- 
cipated a deficiency, the export was not permitted. 
Hence no agriculturist cared to cultivate poor land, but 
threw it out of cultivation, and the results of this were 
that there was a large extent of waste ground in France, 



1678. Lewis XIV. and France. 9 

and that the agriculturists were very poor. The poverty 
of the agriculturists again prevented their being custom- 
ers of the manufacturers, and thus there was a loss of 
trade to the manufacturers. 

Another principle of Colbert's finance, now everywhere 
recognized as a pernicious principle, was the forbidding, 
as much as possible, gold and silver to be sent out of the 
kingdom. Coin, was, therefore, everywhere hoarded, 
and this practice has continued in the rural districts of 
France even to the present day. Colbert did not per- 
ceive that if there was a deficiency of gold or silver in 
France, and coin consequently became dearer, there 
would be a rush of coin from other countries, where it 
was more abundant, and consequently cheaper, to sup- 
ply that deficiency. 

In the chief European nations, in England, France, 
Holland, Germany, Italy, there existed guilds, or com- 
panies, at the head of each trade and manu- 
facture. These corporations regulated the ^^gunds"** 
practice of their trades, and fixed the prices 
to be paid to the laborers, and to be received for 
goods. They were often possessed of great wealth, and 
were of influence in the State. Their power was now 
beginning to decline, owing to various reasons, amongst 
others to greater freedom of communication. But Col- 
bert endeavored in France to prop up their failing influ- 
ence. He promulgated edicts enforcing the regulations 
of the guilds ; and these regulations were minute, pedan- 
tic, and tyrannical. The result was that trades and 
manufactures were artificially fostered ; that they did 
not follow the natural wants of the population, as they 
do when perfect freedom is allowed them, but became pro- 
ducers and distributors of luxuries rather than of necessa- 
ries. During Colbert's ministry there were 17,300 persons 



lo The Fall of the Stuarts i ^c. a.d. 

engaged in manufacturing lace, a luxury ; whilst 60,400 
were all that were employed in woollen manufacture. 

Colbert was extremely rigorous against those who 
usurped privileges to which they were not legally entitled. 
This was in keeping with his action in up- 
poiicy of holding the authority of the guilds. There 

*"° ^"^^ were certain privileges claimed by the no- 

bility, which were assumed by some who had no legal 
right to do so. All such pretenders were punished by fines 
and imprisonments. He also endeavored to introduce a 
uniform tariff throughout the kingdom. In this he only 
partially succeeded, as newly acquired provinces claimed 
privileges which had been reserved for them when they 
were added to France. With more complete success he 
reorganized the navy of France, and first raised it to the 
strength of a great maritime power. He codified the 
French laws. He carried out some magnificent public 
works ; the most noteworthy of which is the great canal 
of Languedoc, connecting the Mediterranean and Atlan- 
tic, completed under his influence by the engineer, 
Pierre Paul de Riquet. 

Slavery existed in the West Indian colonies of France, 
as in those of all other European nations. To Colbert's 
honor be it stated that, by the Code Noir in- 
"Code troduced by him, the evils attendant on 

•^°''^"" slavery were greatly mitigated, and the re- 

lations thus established between master and slave were 
not nearly so unrighteous as those which existed in the 
colonies of other States. 

All Colbert's financial projects had been deranged 
during the war just ended. The first period of his minis- 
try, previous to 1672, had been stvled by 

Colbert's , . • ^ r ^ ^- ^i. ' j 

finance dis- him a pcHod of construction ; the second, 
arranged. ixQvo. 1 672 to 1 678, had been a period of de- 



1678. Lewis XIV. and France. 11 

struction, owing to the expenses of the war ; the third 
period he fondly hoped would be one of reconstruction, 
but this hope was not destined to be realized. In the 
years 1681 and 1682, Colbert redeemed 90 millions of 
livres of national debts ; in the same years Lewis in- 
curred debts to the amount of 100 millions. 

To meet the expenses of the war, it had been neces- 
sary to raise large sums by taxation. There was a tax 
on landed property and persons called the ^ ^. . 

^ ^ J ^ Condition 

" taille, " and almost every necessary of life of the 
was also taxed, even pewter vessels. One pJopie after 
of the most hated of these taxes was that ^^^ '^^^• 
on salt, called the " gabelle. " These burdens were 
borne almost exclusively by the producing and laboring 
classes, for among the many privileges of the nobility 
was that of large exemption from taxation. Those, there- 
fore, paid least who could best afford to pay most. Dis- 
tress among the tax-paying classes was universal. Pop- 
ular tumults arose in numerous districts and were put 
down with great severity. The wretched peasants were 
reduced to eating grass and the bark of trees ; and fa- 
mine slew thousands. 

The system under which a great portion of the land in 
France was cultivated, which is called metairie, is an 
evil one. The metayer, (medietarius, middle- 

N • r 1 1 -11 The noble, 

man) or occupier of the land, was provided and pea- 
by the owner with seed, cattle, and agricul- ^^"'^' 
tural implements, and in return, besides paying all 
taxes, gave half the gross produce to the land-owner. 
Though an advance on the serf system it did not invite 
peasants to spend money on the improvement of the 
land, and so produced poor cultivation. Half the pro- 
duce was also too large a rent. The metayer grew as 
little corn as possible, and fed his geese in his wheat 



12 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. 

fields, for his half of the gross produce was insufficent to 
pay for the labor of cultivation. The farms of the 
metayers were very small, in reality but peasant-hold- 
ings. The relations existing between the peasant- 
farmer and his lord were very different from those exist- 
ing ki England between the village laborer and the 
squire. The French lord (seigneur) visited his estates 
only for retrenchment or to squeeze out larger yieldings 
from his metayers. He lived at the court. The magni- 
ficence and extravagance of Lewis XIV. were imitated 
on a smaller scale by all the nobility. Life in the 
country was looked on by a seigneur as exile. The re- 
sponsibilities of a landlord were not recognised by him. 
He sought advancement at court, and for this advance- 
ment he intrigued and bribed. Even military service 
he seldom undertook from patriotic motives, but as a 
means of procuring court favor. When once a 
nobleman had secured a firm standing and influence 
at court, he made use of his position to replenish 
his fortune by selling his influence to less fortunate 
aspirants. 

The hereditary and exclusive privileges of the nobility 
and place-holders were so valuable that Lewis and his 
ministers increased the revenue by the sale 
of the titles and offices which conferred such 
privileges. By degrees monopolies were created. To 
such an extent was this system carried, that the privilege 
of exercising the meanest callings, such as those of por- 
ters, or of mutes at funerals, was reserved to certain 
families, in consideration of a large money payment. 

In the provincial estates and parliaments of France 
existed the elements of civil liberty. 

The local government of each province was entrusted 
to its estate. The estate met in assembly in the three 



1678. Lewis XIV. a7id France. 13 

orders of clergy, nobility, and commons. It Provincial 
raised the revenue required by the kmg, had 
authority to borrow money, and superintended the ex- 
penditure of money to be laid out on local purposes. 
But in the reign of Lewis, there was placed over each 
provincial estate a royal functionary, called an intendant, 
and under him served various officials. He was ap- 
pointed by the king's wjll, was removable at the king's 
I pleasure, and, in reahty, controlled everything. The 
provincial estates often grumbled, but their opposition 
seldom extended further. The greater nobles lived at 
court, the clergy were faithful servants of the Crown, the 
intendant was the king's representative, so that although, 
theoretically, the power and privileges of the provincial 
estates still belonged to them, their power and their pri- 
vileges were practically in the hands of the intendant. 
Opposition to the wishes of the intendant was easily silen- 
ced by quartering troops on a refractory district, or by the 
arbitrary imprisonment of an independent member of 
the estate. 

The parliaments of France, originally nine, after- 
wards fifteen in number, were the supreme legal tri- 
bunals. The parliament of Paris was na- 
turally the chief, but each parliament claimed ments" 
to be independent of every other. They 
were jealous of each other's authority, and had no com- 
mon principle of action. Besides their legal functions, 
they claimed the power of refusing to register, in their 
archives any law which the king had promulgated, and 
they asserted that this r.f..sal on their part rendered 
the law inoperative. Lewis, however, would not admit 
this claim of the parliaments ; he compelled them to 
register his laws, he forbade them to prosecute any royal 
official who disobeyed their orders, and enforced his will 



14 The Fall of the Stuarts i ^'c. a.d. 

by banishing any members of a parliament who upheld 
this privilege. The legal offices attached to the mem- 
bership of a parliament were, as those attached to the 
Crown, saleable. Lewis therefore was soon enabled to 
fill a great number of these with devoted adherents ; and 
by cleverly turning to good account the jealousy felt 
by each parliament for the other, he soon rendered it im- 
possible for them to take common action in rejecting a 
royal mandate. ' 

France did not come out unscathed from the war 
ended by the peace of Nimwegen. The ambition of its 
monarch had impoverished the country. The agricul- 
tural, commercial, manufacturing, and colonial interests 
had all suffered. The conditions of peace were advan- 
tageous to France as regarded her territory and military 
power ; but on the other hand, the protective duties on 
which the manufacturers, especially those of woolen 
goods and silk, had relied, were relaxed in favor of Hol- 
land and England. 

Lewis's inordinate ambition an4 firm belief in the di- 
vine rights of kings combined to make him desire to see 
himself at the head of Europe, not as king of France 
only, but as Emperor, and king of Spain. France, though 
impoverished, had great natural resources, and Colbert 
was there to provide funds, Louvois to look to the "ma- 
teriel" of his army, Vauban to build his fortresses. One 
man only stood in Lewis's way, William of Orange. 

Section IV. — The United Provinces and William 
of Orange. 

William of Orange was born November 4, 1650, eight 
days after the death of his father, the Stadtholder of the 
United Provinces of Holland. A strong party opposed 
to the idea of the Stadtholdership being hereditary in the 



1678. ' William of Orange. 15 

house of Orange, endeavored for some years to carry- 
on the government. But Holland thus became divided 
against itself, and an easy prey therefore to its enemies. 
Seven provinces with independent provincial assemblies, 
sending members to the States General, afforded a fine 
field for French diplomacy. In a few years the meetings 
of the States General were scenes of confusion. To add 
to the difficulties which stood in the way of unanimity, 
there were eighteen cities in Holland, governed each by 
a municipal council, and each of these claimed an inde- 
pendent voice in many affairs of state. The character of 
William had, young as he was, become 
known, and in 1672, Zealand, followed soon provhices^^ 
after by the other provinces, chose him w?i?-^^ 

■' , WiUiam as 

Stadtholder. The French had invaded Hoi- Stadthoider 
land, and William took desperate measures 
to drive them out of his country. He appealed to the 
patriotism of his countrymen, the dykes were burst open, 
the whole country was flooded, and the French were 
forced to beat a speedy retreat. For six years the war 
continued, and Holland, at first almost ruined, had, at 
the peace of Nimwegen, preserved its independence and 
its territory, had gained commercial advantages, and 
had won the respect of Europe. William had also 
estabhshed his reputation. He had shown himself, 
under a cold, calm exterior, to be capable of originating 
bold designs, and of tenaciously carrying them out. He 
had proved himself as a diplomatist second to none. He 
had already gained a hold on the German powers which 
he presently used to good effect. 

William, a Calvinist, the upholder of civil and reli- 
gious liberty, was naturally hated by Lewis, a bigoted 
Catholic, and maintainer of despotism. William, well 
aware of this antipathy, was also a far-sighted statesman, 



i6 The Fall of the Stuarts J ^'c. a.d. 

who saw that among the many projects of Lewis's am- 
bition, not the most difficult to be realized, was that of 
making the whole of Western Europe subservient to 
France. For if England entered into an offensive and 
defensive alliance with Lewis, and placed its naval re- 
Wiliiam and sources at his disposal, then Western Europe 
Lewis. would be at his feet. Lewis therefore di- 

rected all his intrigues to gain England to his side. William 
worked as strenuously to frustrate those intrigues. 

By William's marriage, he acquired a right to be con- 
sulted on England's foreign policy, for Charles, the king, 
was childless, and his only brother, James, had as yet 
but two children, both daughters, and of them Mary was 
the elder. William's wife therefore stood not far from 
the succession. William had many warm friends amongst 
the liberal-minded and patriotic men there were in the 
English nobility, although these were few in number, 
and already (in 1678) had gained influence among Eng- 
lish statesmen. This influence it was the great aim of 
Lewis to destroy. He instructed his ambassador, Baril- 
lon, to work on Charles's love of pleasure and want of 
money ; to work on the religious feelings of James, who 
had now the enthusiasm of a convert to Roman Catholi- 
cism, and also on his hatred of constitutional liberty ; to 
work on the courtiers by bribery, and by encouraging 
their jealousies one of the other; to work on the English 
people by stirring up the spirit of persecution, by pitting 
Protestant against Papist, by sowing enmity between the 
country and the court. And well Barillon did his work. 
The history of the last seven years of the reign of Charles 
II. of England cannot be understood unless we remem- 
ber that Charles and his statesmen were but the puppets 
of the show, that Barillon was the underling who pulled 
the strings, and that Lewis XIV. was the director, whilst 



1678. William of Orange. ly 

William of Orange sat looking on, a quiet, but by no 
means unobservant, spectator. 

Section V. — Germany and Spain. Emperor Leopold and 
Charles II. of Spain. 

Germany, already exhausted by the Thirty Years' 
War (1618-1648), had suffered much in the war with 
France, now ended by the peace of Nimwegen. It was 
true that no province had been lost, and that Lothringen 
(Lorraine) again formed a state of the empire ; but the 
wreathing time, so necessary for it to recover from its 
frightful losses, had been interrupted ; the power of the 
Diet had been weakened, the bonds which 

i . , , . . , Germany. 

united the various states, never tight, were 
low more slackened. Lewis had gained over electors 
ind princes of the empire, by money, by promises of in- 
:reased dominions, and by flattery ; and he had no occa- 
pon to trouble himself about the German people. For 
he German people could be hardly said to exist. Ger- 
nany was now composed of numerous small courts, nu- 
nerous small armies, and half-starved wretched peasants. 
The towns were half depopulated, and the middle class 
kas almost annihilated. 

The Emperor Leopold was both mentally and morally 
y weak man. Of the house of Hapsburg, duke of Austria, 
nd king of Bohemia and of Hungary, he 
ad no real power in the empire. Swayed ^°^° 

ither and thither, as the interest of the moment seemed 
5 direct him, he had been at one time the tool of Lewis, 
ut now he leant on William of Orange, for support. 
,ewis' designs on the empire were so manifest that 
,eopold, with the greatest tenacity his nature permitted, 
)ined William in his plans for counteracting them. 

Spain was fallen from its high position. The kingdom 

C 



1 8 The Fall of the Stuarts , ^ c . a.d. 

was impoverished. The weahh of its American colonies^ 
had not enriched the state. Its best blood 
had been drained away. Every adventu- 
rous spirit had been enthralled by the desire ofbecomingj 
rich. Its court was the victim of state etiquette. Its nobless 
were ill-educated and the slaves of the priests. Its race 
of statesmen and warriors had died out. Its king, Charles3, 
11., was a sickly and feeble boy of thirteen years of age 

So the conditions of the Peace of Nimwegen com--] 
pelled Spain to pay. As we have said above (p. 5), 
Tranche Compte, and some of Spain's best provinces 
in the Netherlands fell to the share of Lewis. 



CHAPTER II. 

ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND, 1 678 AND 1 679. 

Section I. — England in 1678. 

Lewis XIV. wished to gain England to his side. He^3 
endeavored therefore to undermine William's influence 
^, g and sow dissension in the nation ; but Eng- 

land, to be of use to him, must not be 
weakened. The stronger the nation was, the more help itt 
could afford him. He hoped by destroying popular govern- 
ment, and by restoring the Catholic religion in England, , 
to make it both a strong and ready tool in his hands. 

The affairs of the two kingdoms, England and Scot- 
land, will for a time occupy our attention. 

The news of the Peace of Nimwegen was received in^ 
England with mingled joy and discontent. Englishmenji 
were glad that William of Orange, the Stadtholder, thel 

\ 



1678. England in i6y8 . 19 

nephew, by marriage, of their king, had come out of his 
sreat strufifffle with Lewis with unreduced ^. 

=> *^° Discontent 

dominions, and with increased weight in the in England 
councils of Europe. Butthere was discontent ^" ^ 7 • 
for three reasons. First, because the national pride was 
wounded. In the time of Cromwell, just twenty years 
ago, England had been the most respected European 
power, the one power which France courted. It had de- 
feated the navies of Holland and Spain ; it had been 
the great upholder of the Protestant cause, as William of 
Orange now was ; and now this glory had passed away. 
The second reason for discontent was the fear for the 
cause of civil liberty. It was rumored that treaties and 
arrangements had been entered into by the English king 
with Lewis XIV., which had for their object the subver- 
sion of the constitution by the aid of foreign troops. 
Charles had raised troops nominally to aid William of 
Orange ; but these troops had, by Barillon's intrigues, 
been kept back, and were in England, not as yet dis- 
banded. So the old English feeling of distrust of a 
standing army was aggravated by the fear that French 
forces might be sent to join those raised by Charles in 
coercing Parliament. But there was a third reason for 
discontent in the general hatred felt for Roman Catho- 
icism. Puritans and churchmen were united in this 
latred ; it was their one bond of union. The activity 
shown by the Roman Catholics seems to justify this 
latred. Jesuit priests were known to be intriguing at 
:ourt ; the king was suspected of an inclination to 
papistry ; the Duke of York, the heir presumptive, was 
declared Roman Catholic, and had married for his 
;econd wife the Princess Mary of Modena, also a Roman 
Catholic. At the same time Lewis XIV., the adviser 
Df Charles, had already begun on a small scale those 



•*o The Fall of the Stuarts, &*€. a.djI 

persecutions of Protestants which in a few years after hei 
carried out in such a manner as to drive the Protestants 
of England and Holland wild with anger. 

This popular discontent found two vents for its ex-; 
How the pression ; the one in an attempt to drivet 

disc&ntent is Roman Catholicism from the kingdom, and 

manifested. ° 

to exclude the Duke of York from the suc- 
cession of the throne ; the other in the impeachment of i 
the minister, Lord Danby. 



Section II. — The Minister and the leader of the 

Opposition. 

Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby, was the minister tO( 

whom Charles II. had at this time entrusted 

Satesmen. ^^ chief direction of affairs ; the leader o4 

the Opposition was Anthony Ashley Cooper/ 

Earl of Shaftesbury. 

Political immorality was as prevalent among English; 
as among continental, statesmen. The use of bribery) 
was general. If at any time the expression used in later 
days by an English statesman that ** every man has his; 
price," was true, it was true in the time of Charles IL 
One or two rare exceptions there were, but statesmenr 
who were considered upright, and patriots who were( 
famed for their public spirit, condescended to receivee 
"pensions" from Lewis XIV. for themselves, and to. 
bribe members of Parliament. This was done with so: 
little reserve as to make it evident that conscientious meni 
looked on giving and receiving bribes in another lightl 
than that in which we are now accustomed to view suchh 
a crime. ' 

Osborne, Lord Danby, was not beyond his age. Off 
good business powers, and ready in debate, he tried to» 



1678. The Popish Plot. 21 

make parliament subservient to his views by 
purchasing it wholesale. Himself fond of Danb^ 

money, he measured every one by his own 
standard. So thoroughly did he carry out his plan that 
the parliament which was sitting in 1678, which had, in 
fact, been sitting since 166 1, has earned for itself in his- 
tory the name of " Pension Parliament." Danby's own 
political views were moderate. He was a Protestant, but 
not a Puritan ; an upholder of the monarchy, but no 
lover of arbitrary power ; an adherent of the Stuarts, but 
no mere courtier. 

Ashley Cooper, Lord Shaftesbury, began public life as 
a royalist, and then united himself to the party of the 
Commonwealth. During Richard Crom- 
well's brief protectorate he had joined Monk bJJ^.^^^^*^" 
in his successful plot for the restoration of 
he Stuarts. Dry den in his satire of " Absalom and 
\chitophel " thus describes Shaftesbury under the cha- 
racter of Achitophel : 

For close designs and crooked counsels fit, 
Sagacious, bold, and turbulent of wit, 
Restless, unfixed in principles and place. 
In power unpleased, impatient of disgrace. 

Uthough written by a political and religious opponent, 
\istory admits the justice of this description. 

Section \\\.— The Popish Plot. 
On August 13, 1678, three days after the signing of the 
_'eace of Nimwegen, Charles II. received a warning not 
D walk unaccompanied in the Park, nor to expose his 
erson heedlessly, " for that his death was determined 
n." This information was traced through ^. ^ 

^ Titus Gates. 

arious channels to one Titus Oates. Oates 

as on September 28 brought before the privy council. 



22 The Fall of the Stuarts, &*c. a.d. 

Had it not been for the prevalent feeling of distrust 
and hatred of the Roman Catholics, the personal ap- 
pearance and previous career of Gates would have 
been conclusive evidence of the falseness of his story 
The son of an Anabaptist, he had early in life conformed 
to the Church of England, been admitted to holy orders 
and presented to a living. This he had been compelled 
to resign, on a charge of perjury, and of using blasphe- 
mous expressions. He next obtained a chaplaincy on 
board a man-of-war, but was dismissed his ship for dis- 
graceful behaviour. Professing then to be a convert to 
Roman Catholicism, he joined the English college at St. 
Omer, in France. His present story was that he hadi 
been entrusted by the highest Romish authorities with 
letters, written by the Pope himself, the purport of which i 
was to excite the Catholics to compass the death of King ; 
Charles by any means. He added that meetings had I 
been already held in London for that purpose ; and that t 
Coleman, the Roman Catholic secretary of the Roman i 
Catholic Duke of York, and Father la Chaise, the con-'i- 
fessor of Lewis XIV. (whom Gates always calls Father : 
Lee Shee), were the persons through whom the necessary ' 
correspondence was carried on. 

Coleman's house was immediately searched. He had 1 
partly destroyed his papers, but some were found con- , 
taining doubtful expressions, (doubtful, that is, as to i 
loyalty, but perfectly natural under the circumstances),] 
setting forth the great hopes which the Catholics in Eng- ' 
land entertained for the future, when the Duke of York 
would be king, and Lewis XIV. would be able to 
afford them more active assistance. 

In addition to Coleman, Gates accused Wakeman the 
queen's private physician, who was also a Roman , 
Cathohc. I 



1678. The Popish Plot. 23 

In the course of his story Oates said that he had been 
sent through Spain, previously to his coming to England, 
and that there he had an interview with Don John of 
Austria, the young King of Spain's minister, who had 
promised to aid the English Catholics in the execution 
of their designs. Charles, who was present at Oates' s 
examination and was incredulous asked Oates what sort 
of a man Don John was. Oates replied, " a tall, lean 
man." This answer amused Charles, for Don John was 
very short and fat, and made him still more incredu- 
lous of the tale. 

But the country received Oates's story as gospel. 

Oates, after his examination before the privy council, 
went to Sir Edmondsbury Godfrey, an active justice of 
the peace, who had been knighted for his Murder of 
exertions during the great plague, and made ^ir Edmonds- 
a deposition on oath of the truth of his state- 
ments. A few days after, the servants of Sir Edmonds- 
bury were surprised at their master not returning to 
dinner at his usual hour ; they waited for him the whole 
afternoon, and at night sent to tell his brothers of his 
absence from home. Nothing was heard of him that 
night (Saturday), but on the following Wednesday morn- 
ing his body was found in a ditch in some fields, near 
London, now occupied by the Regent's Park. From the 
marks on the corpse it appeared that the victim had 
been first strangled, and that some time after death his 
own sword had been run through him, the sword remain- 
ing in the body. His money was untouched. The body 
lay exposed to the public view for two days, and at the 
funeral strange scenes of excitement took place. Three 
persons of the queen's household were afterwards tried 
and executed for the murder, but on perjured and in- 
sufficient evidence. An attempt was also made some 



24 The Fall of the Stuarts, &^c, a.d. 

time after to prove that Sir Edmondsbury Godfrey had 
committed suicide, but this failed. Two hypotheses to 
account for the murder, both probable, remain. The 
one is that the knight was murdered by zealous Papists 
to intimidate those who were taking active measures to 
investigate the alleged Popish Plot ; the other is that the 
deed was committed by the orders of some of those 
whose interest it was to provoke more strongly the pre- 
valent Protestant antipathy to the Duke of York and 
the Roman Catholics. It has also been stated, that no 
proof has been offered, that the murder was committed 
by some of Gates' s gang to add credibility to their state- 
ment. 

The popular excitement now rose to the highest pitch. 

Parliament had met in session. Even if Danby had 

attempted to bribe, the venal members were 

Bill against ^ . . 

Papists carried no longer to be bought. A Committee of 
the House was appointed to inquire into the 
murder of Sir Edmondsbury Godfrey and into Gates's 
disclosures. A day was set apart for a solemn fast. A 
bill was hurriedly carried through both Houses " for the 
more effectual preserving the king's person and govern- 
ment by disabling Papists from sitting in either House of 
Parliament." The intention of Shaftesbury and the Gp- 
position evidently was to prepare the way for the exclu- 
sion of the Duke of York from the succession to the 
throne, but a special exemption clause was inserted in 
the bill (partly on the personal appeal to the House of 
Lords of the duke, who spoke " with great earnestness 
and with tears in his eyes ") which ran as follows, " Pro- 
vided always that nothing in this Act contained shall ex- 
tend to his Royal Highness, the Duke of York." To 
deal a heavier blow against Roman Catholics, it was also 
determined that an oath of allegiance to the king, and a 



1678. The Popish Plot. 25 

declaration of the idolatry of masses should be made by 
all holders of office under the Crown, as a test that they 
were untainted by Popery. 

The Committee of the House of Commons examined 
Gates, and another witness, one Bedlow, a man of noto- 
riously bad character, who now came forward to corrobo- 
rate Gates' s statements. They reported the actual ex- 
istence of a Popish Plot, having^ for its ob- ^ 

^ ° Gates makes 

ject the death of the king and the destruc- further disclos- 
tion of the Protestant religion. Gates and 
his accomplice no longer contented themselves with ac- 
cusing such inferior persons as secretaries, priests, and 
physicians, but named five Roman Catholic peers. Lords 
Powys, Bellasis, Stafford, Petre, and Arundel, who were 
straightway committed to the Tower. Gates insinuated, 
Bedlow more than insinuated, that the queen herself was 
privy to the plot. Charles had acted throughout with 
duplicity, publicly professing belief in the plot, but to his 

j intimates treating it as a joke, and saying, "he was ac- 

j cused of being in a plot against his own life ;" but this 
accusation against the queen was more than even he 
could brook, and this portion of the evidence was there- 
fore not touched upon. 

j Coleman was tried and executed, as were also three 

I Romish priests. 

i The trade of witness or informer brought so much con- 
sideration from the vulgar, and such flattering hopes of 
pay from the gratitude of the nation, that 
many were now found to join Gates and erSlJ."^"'^'"' 
Bedlow. Among the more prominent of 
these was Carstairs, a man who had already earned no- 
toriety by acting as a spy on those who had, in Scotland, 
been holding conventicles, contrary to the law. 

The expectations of Gates and his accomplices were 



26 The Fall of the Stuarts f &*c. A.D. 

not unfulfilled. In a few weeks Oates had apartments 
assigned to him in Whitehall, a guard was appointed to 
preserve him from the Papists supposed to be thirsting 
for his blood, and a pension of 1,200/. a year was granted 
to him. The inferior agents were also well cared for. 

For the sake of preserving popularity Charles made no 
attempt, nor did he allow Danby to make any, to quell 
the popular excitement. In the trials that took place 
from the numerous accusations laid by the 
the^ud'^T °^ informers, the conduct of the judges must 
not be overlooked. The servility of those 
who sat on the bench, and the shameless way in which 
they obeyed the dictates of the court, disgraced the name 
of justice. Scroggs, the lord chief justice, 
sSoig^"^''" distinguished himself in bullying the wit- 
nesses for the defence and in pressing for 
convictions, and showed such zeal and heartiness for 
"the Protestant cause/' that he shared with Oates the 
honor of popular applause. He had been raised by 
Danby to the post he held, and was not fitted for it either 
by ability, legal attainments, or decency of life. 

Section IV.— Fall of the Earl of Danby. 

Whilst the public mind was inflamed by the discovery 

of these various Popish plots, fresh fuel was added to the 

, excitement by Ralph Montague presenting 

Montague's J v j^ r o 

disclosures to to the Housc of Commons certain letters 
which had passed through his hands from 
Lord Danby to Lewis XIV., asking for money. Mon- 
tague was the representative of England at the court of 
France. Lewis had been deeply annoyed at the vacilla- 
tions of Charles in the negotiations which preceded the 
Peace of Nimwegen, and laid on Danby the blame of his 
master's indecision. In revenge he now therefore urged 



1678. Fall of the Earl of Danhy. 2 7 

Montague by bribes and other persuasions to betray 
Danby. Montague came to England, appeared in par- 
liament, in which he had a seatj and read two letters ; 
one of these, signed by Danby, made an offer to Lewis 
that Charles would be neutral in the war if a pension of 
600,000 livres (about ;^24,ooo,) were paid him for the next 
three years. At the end of a letter was a postscript in 
Charles's own hand agreeing to the terms. The house 
was no longer under the minister's control. The im- 
peachment of Lord Danby was proposed. 

Danby's defence was that the king alone had, by law, 
power to declare war or to make peace ; that 
his duty was to obey his sovereign in all peached!^' 
things lawful, and that in this case he had 
no alternative. But the Opposition carried the day. On 
December 19, 1678, the impeachment was voted by 179 
votes to 116, and the charges against Danby were read 
at the bar of the House of Lords. 

The charges in the impeachment really only amounted 
to a misdemeanor, but in the Upper House a motion was 
made that Danby should be committed to the Tower on 
a charge of treason ; but this motion was not carried, 
although Shaftesbury pressed its adoption. The plea 
under which it was sought to commit Danby was, that 
the word " traitorously " appeared in the impeachment 
presented by the Commons. But the majority in the 
House of Lords rejected the motion for his committal, on 
the grounds (and solid grounds they appear), that if the 
Commons by the insertion of a word could convert a mis- 
demeanor into a treason, they became judges as well as 
accusers. 

Charles now determined on dissolving the parliament, 
in the hope of putting an end to Danby's prosecution, 
and preventing the disclosure of any fur- ^g _ 



28 The Fall of the Stuarts^ ^'c. a.d. 

ther proofs of the intrigues he had been engaged 

in with the King of France. The " Pension Parliament " 

was consequently dissolved January, 1679, 

Dissolution j ■,• , j r 

of the "Pen- ^.nd a new parliament was summoned tor 
ment"^"^^'*" March. The elections " went almost every- 
where against the court." 

The Duke of York, afraid that his presence in London 
might foment the angry feelings of the capital, left Eng- 
land for Brussels, accompanied by his wife. 
Charles de- But before his departure Charles, on his 
Catharine to eamcst entreaty, made a solemn declaration 
only wife" ^'^ before the privy council, that he had never 
been married, nor had made a contract of 
marriage with any woman whatsoever save his wife 
Queen Catherine. 

The object of this declaration was to put an end to 
the pretensions of the Duke of Monmouth, the eldest of 
King Charles' natural children, whose mother, 
Monmouth. ^^^^ Walters, was popularly supposed to 
have been married to Charles whilst he was a 
refugee at the Hague. The proofs of this marriage were 
supposed to be concealed in a certain " black box, " to 
which constant allusions will be found in the pamphlets 
of the period. The Duke of Monmouth ( the Absalom 
of Dryden's " Absalom and Achitophel " ) was eminent- 
ly fitted to attract popular sympathy. He was at an 
early age wedded to the richest heiress of her day, the 
Lady Anne Scott, who inherited the vast property of the 
house of Buccleuch. Of a handsome person, of pleasant 
and winning manners, of tried bravery, the beloved of 
Protestants and country gentlemen, he was used as a 
tool by Shaftesbury for the purpose of crushing the Duke 
of York. On James' retirement from England, Monmouth 
for a few months became the petted idol of the court. 



1 679- Third Parliament of Charles II. 29 



Section V. — The third Parliament of Charles II. 
( Habeas Corpus Act. ) 

Charles, on Danby's fall, called to his councils Sir 
William Temple, who had been one of the chief negotia- 
tors of the Nimwegen peace. Temple was a sir William 
man not only of the most cultivated mind, Temple. 
but also of the strictest integrity ; he never hesitated to 
speak the truth to the pU asure-loving Charles, nor to re- 
tire from public affairs when his country's welfare or his 
personal honor demanded. Since the Restoration( 1660) 
he had been employed in diplomacy on the Continent, 
and had never sat in the House of Commons. In one 
respect this was a drawback, as he was unable to enter 
into the feelings and susceptibilities of the House ; in 
another respect it was a gain, since to his name could 
not be attached the odious epithet of " pensionary. '* 

Sir William Temple's first measure was a novel one ; 
he reconstituted the privy council. It was to consist of 
thirty members. Fifteen of these were to 
be the ministers and officers of state, the re- tio^n°of the' 
maining fifteen to be noblemen and gentle- ^"^y., 

° ^ Council. 

men of high standing. The measure was 
at first most popular. It was thought by the one party 
that it would prevent the encroachments of parliament 
on the prerogatives of the Crown, by the other party 
that it would hinder the attacks of the Crown on the in- 
dependence of parliament. Shaftesbury was chosen 
President, so that he now filled the anomalous position 
of lord president of the privy council and leader of the 
Opposition in parliament. 

But the new privy council was soon found too numer- 
ous and too divided in opinions to fulfil the purpose of 



30 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d- 

From that a Cab- a vvorkin? council for the kine. Charles 

met ib formed. . 

therefore chose from the council four confi- 
dential advisers : Temple, Capel, Earl of Essex, Spencer, 
Earl of Sunderland, and Savile, Viscount Halifax. These 
formed, what in the present day is called the Cabinet. 
Essex was a politician of good intentions and of 
, , ^ honorable character, and had therefore 

Lord Essex. .11 r .-r. 1 

gamed the respect of Temple. 
Sunderland was the product of his day. Clever and 
unprincipled, he had for years resided at the court of 

Lewis as envoy of England, and had there 
derland""' become an adept in intrigues, both political 

and social. 
Halifax was a man of great intellectual powers. His 
natural disposition was kind and tolerant, and this 

joined to his keen appreciation of probable 

results, made him take a broad and mode- 
rate view of party politics. Hence his policy always 
tended to avoid extreme measures, and he consequently 
received the nickname of " Trimmer. " The same name 
was applied to all those who followed him in attempting 
to hold a middle course between the court and country 
factions, the two great parties of the day. Halifax's 
political morahty was expediency. Whatever party best 
served present purposes he joined ; and he found no 
difficulties in changing from one side to the other, for 
his personal dislikes were reserved for those only who 
were violent and immoderate partisans. 

But this choice of a small body out of the council was 
deeply resented by most of the other members, and 

Shaftesbury prepared a most active opposi- 

Parliament . , ^ . . .^^ ,. .1 

meets. tion to the mmistry. Farliament met on 

opposition March 6. The first contest took place on 
to the ^^ choice of a Speaker of the House of 

court. ^ 



1 6 7 9 • Third Parliament of Charles II. 3 1 

Commons. The king nominated a member to fill 
the chair; the Opposition claimed for the Com- 
mons the right of election, asserting that the only 
power which the Crown had was to confirm their 
choice. The Opposition gained the day. After a hot 
debate, lasting for a week, it was agreed that the right of 
election was with the House, and that the confirmation 
by the king followed as a matter of course. This debate 
at once served to show Charles and his advisers the 
temper of the House- 
When this matter had been settled, the Commons 
took up again the impeachment of Lord Danby. On 
finding the proceedings renewed, Danby Danby's 
prepared for flight ; but, on being advised impeach- 

. ment 

that if he fled, an act of attainder might be resumed. 
passed against him, he surrendered. He 
now pleaded there could be no prosecution, as he held 
a pardon from the king. Charles had not only granted 
him a free pardon, but had also given him a warrant 
raising him to the rank of Marquis of Carmarthen. This 
enraged the Opposition, who formed the majority in the 
Commons. They appeared at the bar of the House of 
Lords, and demanded judgment against Danby, whose 
plea said they, was void. They also denied the right 
of the bishops to vote on the validity of the pardon, 
arguing that if the pardon was not valid, and if Danby 
were then to be convicted of treason, death would be 
the punishment, and spiritual lords could not legally vote 
on questions of life and death. The Lords discussed the 
questions raised by the Commons ; they agreed to ap- 
point a Committee of the two Houses to regulate the 
manner of the impeachment, but they resolved that the 
lords spiritual had a right to sit and vote in all cases until 
the actual question of life and death was before the House. 



33 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. 

But the impeachment of Danby was a secondary 
matter to the great object of Shaftesbury and the Opposi- 
tion, which was the exclusion of the Duke 
refdrng1)f ^^ York from the succession to the throne, as 
Exclusion being a Roman Catholic. The second 

Bui passes ° 

the Com- reading of a bill, to effect this object, was 

carried on May 21 in the Commons by 207 
votes against 128. 

On May 27, Charles, acting by the advice of Temple, 
who feared the temper of the Commons, prorogued the 
Habeas parliament, and soon after by proclamation 

Corpus Act. dissolved it. But this did not take place 

Dissolution , . '^ 

of the third until the king had given an unwilling as- 
mentof Sent to the passing of an Act, commonly 

Charles 11. ^^^^^^^ ^.j^^ Habeas Corpus Act. Charles 

assented in order not to provoke a more active hostility 
to the court in the elections now pending. The Act re- 
quires a judge, on application, to issue an order to any 
jailor to produce the body ( habeas corpus ) of a prison- 
er ; when, if the offence with which he is charged is 
bailable, and he can give security that he will appear in 
a court of law to answer the charge, he is set free 
until the trial. The Act also prevents any one from be- 
ing sent to prison "beyond the seas ; " it orders every 
prisoner to be indicted in the first law term after his 
commitment, and to be brought to trial at latest in the 
subsequent term. No man, it enacts, after being en- 
larged, can be recommitted for the same offence. This 
Act is one which has done much in preserving the lib- 
erties of Englishmen, but it is no addition to the consti- 
tutional law of our country. The same rights existed 
before, but they had been impaired through the criminal 
servility of the judges and the tyranny of the Crown. 
The Habeas Corpus Act only re-enacted and re-asserted 



1 679' Whigs a7id Tories. 33 

the rights and privileges of every Englishman. Black- 
stone does indeed say in his Commentaries, " The point 
of time at which I would choose to fix the theoretical per- 
fection of our public law, is the year 1679, after the Ha- 
beas Corpus Act was passed, though the years which 
immediately followed it were times of great practical 
oppression. " But he also admits the Act was needed 
only on account of the " pitiful evasions " of judges and 
court lawyers. 

Meantime the trials of those accused by Oates and his 
accomplices were continued during the 
sprmg and summer. Twelve persons were trials con- 
found guilty and executed. Wakeman, the • *'""® " 
queen's physician, was acquitted. 



Section 




^itPfSp 




In the months of August and September the elections 
for the new parliament were going on, and the candidates 
suported by the court were generally de- ch i ' 
feated. It was evident that the new parlia- fourth Par- 
ment would meet with a greater majority elected, but 
against the ministers than the last one. prorogued. 
Charles placed but little confidence even in his selected 
ministers. Fearing that he should find a new parlia- 
ment uncompromising, he had already en- 
tered into fresh and secret negotiations with treaty with 
Lewis. He begged him not to lose this ^^^^' 
opportunity of making England for ever dependent upon 
France. A treaty was therefore entered into. On con- 
dition that a pension of 1,000,000 livres (about 40,000^.) 
was paid to him annually, for the space of three years, 
Charles agreed not to assemble parliament during thaj- 
time. He consequently prorogued the new parliament 

D 



34 The Fall of the Stuarts J &*c. a.d. 

immediately on its meeting in October, without the con- 
sent, or without having asked the consent, of his council. 

Temple, Essex, and Halifax resigned their offices. 
Sunderland, who never willingly resigned a 
of Temple, place, retained his. The new ministers 
Ha1!fa:!^ chosen by the king were Lawrence Hyde, 

^d^cTT'i -^^^^ °^ Rochester, and Sidney Godolphin, 
phin take Earl of Godolphin. Rochester was a brother 

eir paces. Qf t]^g first Duchess of York, a Cavalier as 
well in politics as in habits of life : a strong adherent of 
Church principles, he both drank hard and lived hard. 

Godolphin was a clever and cool-headed courtier, and 
an enthusiastic sportsman. His political principles sat 
easily upon him. He was a trimmer, not upon convic- 
tion as Halifax was, but from interest. He cared only 
for office, horse-racing, and cock-fighting. 

Rochester and Sunderland endeavored to persuade 
Charles to break off his negotiations with Lewis, and to 
summon the parliament, but the prorogation had been 
already announced, and Charles was unwilling to run 
the risk of offending Lewis, and of having the Exclusion 
Bill thrust upon him. 

The Duke of Monmouth had been acting as the king's 
representative in Scotland, but Shaftesbury sent for him 
to return, for the king was not well. His arrival in 
London was celebrated by popular rejoicings. The Duke 
James and °^ York, hearing of Monmouth's presence at 
Monmouth. court, hastily set off from Brussels, and 
hurried to Windsor, where Charles lay seriously ill. The 
king, as the only chance of preserving peace, ordered 
Monmouth off to Holland, and sent James to Scotland 
as Lord High Commissioner. He also dismissed Shaftes- 
bury from the presidency of the Council. 

Shaftesbury in revenge took still more active steps in 



1679* Whigs and Tories. 35 

exciting the country to clamor for the Exclusion Bill. 
The anniversary of the accession of Queen 
Elizabeth, November 17, was celebrated bury^dis- 
throughout England with extraordinary missed from 
manifestations. Loud and deep were the dency of the 
execrations hurled against Papists and all """^^ ' 
who were supposed to have any sympathies with Rome ; 
the effigies of the Pope and the Duke of York were pub- 
licly burnt; and a "black box" was carried about in 
triumph. On November 28 Monmouth appeared sud- 
denly in London, and although ordered by the king to 
return again to Holland, he obstinately remained. Ad- 
dresses were signed in every county, and 

- , • .1 1 • I, Addressers 

m every borough, praymg the kmg to call and Ab- 
parliament together at an early day. Shaftes- oarers, 
bury and the Opposition consequently received the 
name of "Addressers." The ministers and the court 
met these addresses by obtaining counter addresses to 
the king, expressing abhorrence of such proceedings, as 
tending to interfere with the king's prerogative of sum- 
moning and proroguing parliament. They were there- 
fore entitled "Abhorrers." 

But these party names were speedily changed into the 
now familiar ones of Whigs, and Tories. The Opposi- 
tion were nicknamed Whigs, a term of re- whigs and 
proach which had been originally applied to Tories, 
the strictest sect of Scottish covenanters, and is said to 
have been a local expression in Galloway for sour whey. 
The court party were called Tories, a name borrowed from 
the most wild and savage of the Irish outlaws. 

From this period the two great political parties in 
England have been called by these names ; and students 
may consider the Whigs as "ranged under the banner 
ofhberty," the Tories under that of "loyalty;" the 



36 The Fall of the Stuarts J ^'c. a.d. 

Whigs as seeking the security of the constitution " by 
new maxims of government," the Tories "by an 
adherence to the old." 

Section N\\.— Meal-tub Plot. 

Oates's time of prosperity was not at an end, 
although the public enthusiasm in his favor had begun 
to turn. The trade of discoverer of plots 
informer, Still Seemed a lucrative one, and a man 

Dangerfieid. named Dangcrfield, a profligate scoundrel 
who had been branded, whipped, and imprisoned for 
felony, now appeared on the scene. Prompted probably 
by some hangers-on of the Duke of York, he discovered 
to him a supposed conspiracy of the Presbyterian party, 
to put the king to death and to seize on the government. 
Being rewarded by Charles and James, he proposed to 
substantiate the truth of his statement by papers which 
were concealed in the house of Colonel Mansel, a Pres- 
byterian. The house was searched and the papers were 
found, but their forgery was so apparent that no one could 
be misled by them, and it was easily proved by Colonel 
Mansel that Dangerfieid had access to the room in which 
they were found. The alleged Presbyterian plot came 
to nothing, but the scoundrel now turned on his em- 
ployers. He swore that the pretended plot was invented 
in order to disguise a real one ; that this real plot was a 
Catholic one, and that not the Presbyterians but the 
Roman Catholics were the culprits. He declared that 
the papers which would prove the real plot, were con- 
cealed in a meal-tub in the house of a Mrs. Collins, who 
had been in the employment of Lady Powys, wife of one 
of the five Roman Catholic peers now in the Tower. The 
papers were found. Lady Powys and Mrs. Collins were 
arrested. The former was soon discharged, the grand 



1 679* ^^^ Conventiclers in Scotland. 37 

jury ignoring the bill against her; the latter was tried 
and acquitted. 

The panic caused by the murder of Godfrey was 
evidently subsiding, and the popular faith in informers 
beginning to wane. 

Section VIII. — The Conventiclers in Scotland. 

Before England and Scotland were under one king, it 
was the obvious policy of an enemy of England to stir 
up strife between the two nations ; and even now, when 
the same king ruled over both nations, the danger had 
not passed away, for jealousy still remained to divide 
them. The Scotch were jealous lest their peculiar laws 
and customs should be changed and their 
independence taken from them. The Eng- tions of Eng- 
lish were jealous lest their trade should suffer H.^"'^ ^"'' 
by the Scotch being allowed to participate in 
it on equal terms. England was weakened whenever 
Scotland was in a state of disquiet, and as Lewis XIV. 
did not wish the influence of England on the Continent 
diminished, he, through his ambassador, urged on Charles 
the necessity of keeping Scotland tranquil. Now there 
were two means of pacifying Scotland, — conciliation, or 
severity. Lewis's belief in absolute monarchy led him 
to recommend the latter. 

Episcopacy had been introduced for the second time 
into Scotland at the Restoration. But although the mon- 
archy was popular in Scotland, the Church 
of England was not, and in spite of the tred of episco- 
warnings of those Scotchmen who knew their ^^'^^' 
countrymen best, Charles and his advisers were bent on 
forcing the English Church on the people. The'first 
Lord High Commissioner, Lord Middleton, had allowed 
considerable latitude to the clergy in their conforming to 



38 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. A.D. 

the Church ; but the Duke of Lauderdale, who had suc- 
ceeded him, had induced the subservient Scotch parlia- 
ment (virtually nominees of the Crown) to pass more 
and more severe laws against Presbyterianism, so that 
its followers, driven from their chapels, had to hold 
their meetings by night on the moorside or in the 
forests. 

An insurrection of the Presbyterians had broken out 
in 1666 and had been suppressed. In 1668 Sharp, arch- 
bishop of St. Andrew's, and the bishop of 

Sharp, arch- 
bishop of St. Orkney, were shot at. The bishop was 

wounded, the assassin escaped, but the arch- 
bishop had marked well his appearance. Six years after- 
wards the archbishop recognized in one Mitchell, a shop- 
keeper and noted Presbyterian, the features of the man 
who had shot at him. Mitchell was brought before the 
privy council, and under the promise that his life should 
be spared was induced to confess. The arclibishop in- 
sisted on his execution. In order to extract from him 
the names of his accomplices, if he had any, the poor 
wretch was several times put to the torture, the arch- 
bishop himself actively assisting. Then he was placed 
for some time in solitary confinement, and afterwards, 
contrary to the promises made him, and in deference to 
the archbishop's wish, he was executed. 

Lauderdale and the archbishop forthwith carried per- 
secution to its utmost limits. The Presbyterians, or con- 
venticlers, as they were called, were set upon by dragoons 

at their meetings on the hillsides, and so in 
d^ns n'st^^*^' self-defence they carried with them their 

swords as well as their Bibles. Resistance 
was sure to bring upon them the vengeance of the wild 
Highland troopers. But in the Western Lowlands, in 
Galloway, Ayrshire, Kircudbrightshire, Dumfries, where 



1 6 79- "^he Conventiclers in Scotland, 39 

the hills are rugged and wild, and the towns are few 
and far between, where the farmers and peasants have 
always been characterized by a sturdy spirit of independ- 
ence, and where the names of Prelatist and Papist were 
held equally accursed, resistance to Lauderdale and his 
proud archbishop was openly proclaimed. 

" The Highland host came upon them." So the in- 
surgents designated the large bodies of fierce 
Highlanders speaking no language but ar?quanered 
Gaelic, obeying no law but that of their °"^^^'"- 
chiefs, who were sent to live in free quarters among them. 

The conventiclers were goaded into revenge. As, so 
argued they, Jael's murder of Sisera was acceptable to 
God, in like manner it would be a worthy deed to com- 
pass the death of those who persecuted the 
Lord's saints. Carmichael, the commissioner Murder of 
of the council, and Archbishop Sharp, had Archbishop 
by their activity rendered themselves par- 
ticularly hateful. So a band of fanatics, animated by 
religious enthusiasm, determined on their murder. Car- 
michael, " the cruel, bloody man," escaped, but on 
Magus Muir, five miles west of St. Andrew's, they came 
upon Sharp. He was in his carriage accompanied by 
his daughter. Shouting "Judas, come forth," they 
dragged him from the coach, and, despite his own en- 
treaties and offers of money, despite the tears, and 
prayers, and personal struggles of his daughter, they put 
him to death before her eyes. Then solemnly thanking 
God for His aid in accomplishing the deed, and leaving 
on the moor the body of him who had never shown any 
mercy and to whom no mercy was shown, they made all 
haste to the West to rouse their brethren to arms. 

The Highlanders had just been withdrawn, when in- 
telligence was brought to the council that Sharp had 



40 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. 

been murdered, and that the murderers had escaped to 
the West. They learnt also that the murderers had been 
reinforced, and that a village called Rutherglen had 
burnt the obnoxious acts of parliament which favored 
episcopacy and placed a declaration of hostility in the 
Graham of market-place. Graham of Claverhouse was 
defJaTd°"t* Stationed at Glasgow, with three troops of 
Drumciog, horse which he had himself raised. Gra- 
ham was a kinsman of Montrose, v/ho had 
lost his life in the cause of loyalty, and whose deeds he 
was desirous of emulating. He had served first in the 
French army, and had then joined the guards of the 
Prince of Orange, and had been distinguished for his 
coolness and bravery. Putting himself at the head of 
his troops, he marched out of Glasgow to punish the 
murderers and their fanatical followers. The conven- 
ticlers, about 600 in number, armed for the most part 
with pikes and pitchforks, were posted on a rising 
ground, protected on the two flanks and the front by a 
marsh, near the village of Drumciog. Graham, not 
taking the trouble to form his men, attacked the insur- 
gents with rash impetuosity, and embarrassed by the 
boggy ground, in which his horses stuck fast, was beaten 
off with considerable loss. 

The conventiclers daily received large reinforcements, 
so the troopers drew off towards Edinburgh. By Lauder- 
dale's advice, all the king's troops in Scotland were 
concentrated near the capital. Monmouth, who was at 
present Charles* representative in Scotland, took the 
command of the royal army. The conventiclers, whose 
numbers were now about 4,000, had advanced to Both- 
B ttl f ^^ Moor, near Hamilton. Here they were 

Bothweil met by Monmouth at the head of 5,000 

Jm^22. regular troops. The insurgents were posted 



1 6 79- The Conventiclers in Scotland. 41 

in a strong position, with the Clyde flowing be- 
tween them and Monmouth's army. But there was a 
bridge over the river, and this bridge they had not de- 
stroyed. They were unprovided with cannon, whilst Mon- 
mouth had a strong force of artillery. Monmouth brought 
his guns to bear upon the bridge, and after a steady 
resistance on the part of the rebels, cleared the way for 
the passage of his soldiers. The insurgents retreated in 
good order to a hill near, called Hamilton Heath Here 
the dragoons, eager to avenge their former defeat, twice 
charged them, and each time were driven back. Then a 
body of the hated Highlanders made one of their 
fierce onslaughts on them, but with no effect. The am- 
munition of the conventiclers began, however, to fail. 
Artillery, when once posted in battle, were as yet not 
easily moved; but Monmouth, with considerable diffi- 
culty, got his guns, which had been turned on the bridge, 
again into position, and their fire completed the dis- 
comfiture of the conventiclers. They gave way, then 
retreated, and then fled, for retreat soon changes into 
flight with irregular and ill-trained troops. Claverhouse 
and his troopers, eager for vengeance, Cruel treat- 
charsced amonsrst the panic-stricken fugi- mentofthe 

° , . . , . survivors. 

tives, and, disdammg to make prisoners, 
butchered them unrelentingly. Monmouth in vain 
endeavored to restrain them. Graham earned well his 
name of "bloody Claverhouse." About 1200 of the 
rebels laid down their arms. For these Monmouth tried 
to get as good terms as possible from Lauderdale and 
the servile Scotch parliament. Monmouth's clemency 
was reported in London. 

It was at this juncture that Charles* illness took 
place, and Monmouth was hastily summoned by Shaftes- 
bury to England. 



42 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. 

The Duke of York arrived in Scotland as Lord High 
Commissioner. A Roman CathoHc himself, James hated 

Presbyterlanism with a hatred more intense 
ScSfand! ^"^"^ *^^ °^ ^^ "^ost devoted adherent to 

" Church and State " principles. The cruel- 
ties committed by the privy council when he was at its 
head, are almost incredible. Any one suspected of 
having given refuge to a conventicler, or any one thought 
to be unfriendly to the government or episcopacy, was 
liable to be put to the question before the council. Con- 
fessions extorted by torture from some were made use 
of against others whom the government deemed disloyal. 
Neither age nor sex insured safety. 



CHAPTER HI. 



THE FOURTH AND FIFTH PARLIAMENTS OF CHARLES II. 
AND THE STATE TRIALS OF 1 68 1. 

Section I. — Exclusion Bill, 

All through the winter of 1679 and the spring of 1680, 
Lewis, through his ambassador Barillon, endeavored in 
^gg^ turn to cheat each of the political parties in 

, . , England. He assured Charles he was the 

Lewis and ° 

English only friend on whom he could rely, and ex- 

par les. horted him to govern without summoning a 

parliament. He expressed to James his approval of his 
conduct in Scotland. He told Shaftesbury and the 
Whigs, that if civil war were forced on them by the 
obstinacy of the king, France might be reckoned on for 
support. 



i68o. Exclusion Bill. 43 

In February, 1680, James left Scotland to pay his 
brother a visit at Windsor. He soon gained a complete 
ascendency over Charles. This became ap- 
parent to Shaftesbury, who determined once voSf pre- 
for all to put an end to the influence of the sented as a 

^ recusant. 

Duke of Yofk. He therefore (June 26) pre- 
sented James before the grand jury at Westminster as a 
" Popish recusant." Some of the judges who were present 
on the bench, in alarm asked Shaftesbury to retire with 
them into a private room for conference. During their 
absence the Lord Chief Justice took upon himself the 
bold step of discharging the grand jury, and thus quash- 
ing the proceeding. 

Monmouth in the meantime was making a progress 
as a royal prince in the West of England, and, in spite 
of Charles' declaration of his illegitimacy, 
was received everywhere with joy. Nothing Mon- 

could shake the faith of the people in their p?o°gress. 

" idol, the Protestant Duke." 

The king began to tire of his brother's unpopularity. 
The Whigs became more and more outspoken, and 
Charles saw before him no alternative but „ 

Fourth 

summonmg the Parliament and sendmg Parliament 

James back to Scotland as quickly as pos- October 21. 

sible. The Duke of York therefore returned 

to the North, and the fourth Parliament, which had been 

elected a year previously, met for business on October 

21. 

Godolphin and Sunderland urged the king to consent 
to the bill for excluding the Duke of York from the suc- 
cession, if it should be again brought forward. A bar- 
gain was now being struck between Charles and the 
Whig Opposition. If Charles had been trustworthy the 
Exclusion Bill would have passed. The proposed agree- 



44 The Fall of the Stuarts f &*€. a.d. 

ment was, that in consideration of the Commons voting 
the king a large supply of money, the bill should have 
his sanction. But Charles wished the supplies to be 
voted first, and then the consideration of the Exclusion 
Bill to follow. Shaftesbury and his party knew, that if 
■„ , . X,.,, this were conceded, Charles would throw 

Exclusion Bill . . ,, 

passed by them over, and so the compromise fell 

rej'ected'by " through. On November ii the Commons 
the Lords. passed the bill excluding the Duke of York 

from the succession, and on the 1 5th it came on for discus- 
sion in the House of Lords. The Upper House rejected it 
by 63 votes against 30. Essex and Shaftesbury were the 
great advocates for the bill, Halifax its chief opponent. 
The king was present at the debate, and brought his 
personal influence to bear on all who were thought waver- 
ing. All the bishops in the House, fourteen in number, 
voted in the majority. 

The Whigs showed their vexation by acting in the most 
factious manner in the House of Commons. They car- 
ried a declaration that the " abhorrers," 
proceedings (who had signed petitions expressing " ab- 
°^^^ horrence " of the address to the king asking 

him to summon parliament), or in other 
words the whole Tory party, were guilty of contempt of 
parliament ; and the members of parliament who had 
presented these petitions were consenting parties to a 
breach of privilege. They claimed to sit as a court of 
justice upon all such, thus making the Habeas Corpus 
Act practically of no effect. They threatened Chief 
Justice Scroggs with impeachment for discharging the 
grand jury when Shaftesbury presented the Duke of 
York. They declared that until the Duke of York was 
excluded from the succession they would vote no sup- 
plies. 



1 68 1. The Oxford Parliament of i68 1. 45 

Charles, and the ministers Rochester and Sunderland, 
feared that no course was open to them but a dissolu- 
tion. 

Section II. — Viscount Stafford. 

The Lords, after their rejection of the Exclusion Bill, 
were occupied with the trial of Lord Stafford. He was 
one of the five peers imprisoned on the ac- Stafford's 
cusation of Oates and his fellow-informers. trial, 
On November 30 his trial began before his peers, and on 
December 7 he was found guilty by 55 votes to 31. Staf- 
ford, in his defence, clearly proved the untrustworthy 
character of Oates' evidence, but to no avail. The 
Whigs, the minority in the House of Lords, were joined 
in voting for his execution by many of the court party, in- 
stigated by the king. Charles wished to show, in acting 
thus, that his firmness in the matter of the Exclusion Bill 
was not caused by any predilection for papists. Among 
those also who voted in the majority were all the peers, 
save one, to whom Stafford was related. " Lord Stafford 
was not a man beloved, especially of his own family." 

Stafford's execution took place on December 29. He 
protested his innocence on the scaffold, and 
the spectators answered, " God bless you, we tion. 
believe you, my lord." 

Section III. — The Oxford Parliament of 16S1. 
The Commons still continued in a most impracticable 
mood, and the scenes of violence in the House almost 
equaled those of 1641, which preceded the 
outbreak of the civil war. In addition to 
voting that no supplies should be granted until the Ex- 
clusion Bill was carried, the Whigs prevailed on the 
House to declare the king's ministers promoters of 
popery, and to assert that all who lent the king money 



46 The Fall of the Stuarts ^ 6r*<r. a.d. 

were guilty of hindering the sitting of parha- 
Pariiament ment. So on January i8, 1681, the parlia- 
ment was to be dissolved. But on the last 
day of the session, in the short quarter of an hour before 
the moment of dissolution, the majority voted that the 
opponents of the Exclusion Bill were traitors bought by 
French money ; that the papists caused the great fire of 
London in 1666; that Monmouth's offices, of which 
the Duke of York had deprived him, should be restored 
to him ; and that the infliction of penal laws on dissent- 
ers was an encouragement of popery. 

The new parliament was ordered to meet at Oxford, 
March 21. Charles hoped that the Tory principles 
which prevailed in the university, might have some in- 
„ ,. fluence on the members of the new parlia- 

Farliament *■ 

meets at ment. 

March 21. The king in the meantime entered into 

Charles frcsh intrigues with Lewis, and received 

and Lewis from him fresh bribes. Charles indeed 

again intrigue. 

" was now very uneasy ; he saw he was de- 
spised all Europe over, as a prince that had neither trea- 
sure nor power." 

The session lasted but eight days. Shaftesbury and 
the Opposition mustered in great numbers. They were 
accompanied by large bodies of followers, who filled the 
city ; they either really feared personal violence, or 
thought to overawe the Tories by a display of their 
^ , strength. The Commons insisted on the Ex- 

Parhament , . -r..-,i t 1 1 • 1 • 

dissolved clusion Bill, and the kmg was obstmate m 

refusing it ; so this, Charles' fifth and last 
parliament, was dissolved, without doing any business, 
on March 28. 



1 68 1. Tactics of the Ki7tg and the Whigs. 47 



Section IV.— The Tactics of the King and the Whigs. 

Charles, immediately after the "Oxford" parliament 
was dissolved, published a " declaration " in which he 
set forth at length his reasons for taking 
"the step," that is, the dissolution. This 9)"^^^' ■ .. 

J , . declaration. 

declaration was well received, not only 
by the Tories and the clergy, but by many 
moderate men, who feared that the inordinate de- 
mands of the Whigs would cause a renewal of civil 
war. 

And in fact the foolish loss of temper exhibited by the 
Whig leaders, in the closing scenes of the fourth parlia- 
ment of Charles, and their impracticability in the short 
session of the fifth parliament at Oxford, had alienated 
from them the sympathy of many. The 
timid were frightened, moderate men were SiT^*^' ^°^"" 
disgusted, liberal churchmen stood back. 
The tide of popular feeling had turned in favor of 
Charles, and at this moment, if he had acted with pru- 
dence and honesty, the loyalty inherent in the English 
nation would have been his. But Charles would not act 
with honesty. 

Trusting in the king's popularity, the court party 
hurried on state trials, which from the unjust verdicts 
obtained in them for purposes of party 
tactics, threw into the shade the "Titus 
Oates' trials." Two of these state trials will be men- 
tioned here ; the one that of the Roman Catholic arch- 
bishop Plunket, the other that of "the Protestant 
joiner," Stephen College. 

In the trial of Plunket, the king allowed an innocent 
man to be executed, in order that the court might ap- 



48 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^'c. a.d. 

pear to be opposed to popery and, this 
them°°' ^^ being shown, that the trial of the great Whig 
leader, Shaftesbury, which was meant to fol- 
low, should not be supposed to indicate partiality to the 
Roman Catholics. 

In the latter trial, that of the Protestant College, not 
only was a "gross iniquity " perpetrated, but it was perpe- 
trated in order that the temper of the nation, and the 
subserviency of judges and juries, might be tested, be- 
fore proceeding to the trial of Shaftesbury. 

Section V. — Trial and Execution of Archbishop 
Plunket, 

Plunket, titular archbishop of Armagh, was an amia- 
ble man, zealous for his religion, but also zealous for 
purifying his Church, by getting rid of priests who 
caused scandal by their lives of intrigue and immorality. 
He had at various times suspended some of these from 
their duties, and others he had excommunicated. The 
success of Titus Oates and his followers induced some 
of these degraded priests and their companions to lay 
charges of high treason against their primate. But no 
Irish grand jury, although Irish grand juries were Pro- 
testant, would find a true bill against Plunket, for his in- 
tegrity was well known, and the bad character of the in- 
formers was notorious The archbishop had 

Plunket , -I • 1 IT 

comes to come to England, havmg been assured that 

"^ ^" ' he could not legally be put upon his trial to 

answer the same charges as to which no true bill had been 
found in Ireland. He was notwithstanding put into 
prison immediately on his arrival in London, and de- 
tained there some months. 

In May, 1681, three weeks after the king's " declara- 
tion," Plunket was brought before the King's bench. 



1 68 1. Stephen College. 49 

He asked for time to prepare for defence, 
and to bring over witnesses in his favor from high treason, 
Ireland. Five weeks were allowed him, 
but this time was insufficient to send to the north of Ire- 
land for witnesses and to bring them back. When the 
trial began, the informers swore that Plunket had col- 
lected money and armed men, and had invited a French 
occupation of Ireland. They had during their stay in 
London, where the calling of false witnesses was now well 
understood, been thoroughly trained in their lesson. 
Although Plunket denied any personal knowledge of the 
witnesses, he was found guilty and was con- , , 

' . 3.nd executed. 

demned to death. During the interval be- 
tween his sentence and his execution, favorable reports 
of his character were made to Charles, both by Lord 
Essex and by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. The sen- 
tence was nevertheless carried out on July i. 

After this judicial murder of Plunket, the court thought 
that no Whig could accuse the king or the Tories of a 
leaning to Popery. 

Section VI. — Trial of " the Protestant yoinery 

The trial of Stephen College is, in some respects, even 
more scandalous than that of Archbishop Plunket. 
College, a joiner by trade (known as the 
Protestant joiner), and a citizen of London, College! 

was a Presbyterian of intemperate zeal. He 
had been told off at Oxford, whilst the parliament was 
sitting, by the direction of Shaftesbury, to watch certain 
emissaries of the court who were employed in poisoning 
the minds of the dissenters against the ._ _ _,.„ 

° No True Bill 

Whigs. He was accused of a design to found against 
seize the person of the king at Oxford. The 
plot was sworn to by the same crew of informers who 

E 



5o The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. 

swore away Plunket's life, but their evidence was now 
contradicted by Gates. For this Gates lost his pension. 
The London grand jury refused to believe the evidence » 
of the informers, and threw out the indictment. 

The judges, however, decided that as the attempt on 
the king was to have been made at Gxford, College 

, . . ^ ought to be tried there. It was felt also that 

Again tried ° 

at Oxford and an Gxfordshire jury could be better relied 
^"' ^' on than a Middlesex one, to give their ver- 
dict in accordance with the wishes of the court. So the 
judge and prisoner were removed to Gxford, and College 
was there found guilty on the same evidence on which a 
London grand jury would not place him on his trial. 

During the trial the judges and counsel for the prose- 
cution vied with each other in straining the law against 
the prisoner, and in applying the most opprobrious epi- 
thets to him. 

College was put to death on August 31. The minis- 
ters of Charles hoped that the nation would 

and executed. , ,. , , . 

believe that both papists and dissenters con- 
tinued to plot against the king, and that both were encou- 
raged in their designs by all opposed to the court, espe- 
cially by "those traitorous Whigs." 

Section VIL — Indictment of Lord Shaftesbury. 

Charles and the court party knew they could depend 
on the servile obedience of the judges ; they thought also 

Shaftesbu ^^^^ ^^ Condemnation of College proved 
is committed that juries were becoming amenable to their 
influence. They therefore proceeded at 
once to attack Shaftesbury, the Whig leader. For this 
purpose the Irish witnesses, who had already given evi- 
dence against Plunket and College, now laid before the 
council an accusation against Shaftesbury of having tried 



1 6 8 1 . Indictment of Lord Shaftesbury. 5 1 

to induce them to give such evidence as would convict 
the queen and the Duke of York of complicity in the 
Popish Plots. On this accusation an indictment of sub- 
ornation of perjury was laid against Shaftesbury, and he 
was committed to the Tower to wait his trial. His papers 
were seized, and amongst them, it is stated, 
there was found the rough draft of an asso- g^^ed'^ papers 
ciatioij for subverting the government, at- 
tached to which was a list of all Shaftesbury's friends in 
each county, arranged alphabetically. This list was 
afterwards made use of by the court party for crushing 
their opponents. The rough draft was unsigned, and 
was certainly not in Shaftesbury's handwriting. 

The indictment for high treason was framed and the 
trial was appointed to take place in London, in which 
city the offence was said to have been com- indictment 
mitted. The same judges, North and Pern- If^'^^'^y^ 
berton, were on the bench, as had presided quashed. 
at the trial of College ; the same false witnesses were pi-e- 
pared. To the utter dismay of the court, the grand jury 
declined to find a true bill against Shaftesbury. Shaftes- 
bury was at once set free, November 24. 

The court laid the blame of their failure on the corpo- 
ration of the city. They declared that Shaftesbury's 
escape was owing to the culpable partiality of the sheriffs, 
who were Whigs, and who had selected Whigs only to 
form the grand jury. 



52 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c, a.d. 



CHAPTER IV. 

SCOTLAND IN 1680 AND 1681. 

Section I. — The Cameronians. 
We have seen that the Duke of York, after the defeat of the 
conventiclers at Bothwell Bridge, instituted the most 
stringent proceedings against them. 

Cameron, one of their most noted preachers, affixed 
pubhcly, in the market-place of Sanquhar, a declaration, 
_ in which he excommunicated Charles and 

Cameron. 

the Duke of York, as ungodly usurpers and 
tyrants, and called on the people to free Scotland from 
men whose papistical principles were repugnant to the 
Most High God. He then openly took the field. The 
conventiclers who followed him were now called Came- 
ronians. The insurgents were few in number, and badly 
armed. Three troops of dragoons were sufficient to dis- 
perse them (July 20, 1680), and in the m^lie Cameron 
himself was slain. Many persons were also taken, 

Cargill, another enthusiast, then took the lead. He 
was, if it were possible, more determined in his hatred 
„ ... and detestation of the Stuarts than Cameron 

Cargill. 

had been. He formally excommunicated 
Charles for perjury, adultery, drunkenness, and other 
crimes ; James, Duke of York, for idolatry ; the Duke of 
Monmouth for slaying the faithful at Bothwell Bridge ; 
and all the ministers of the crown in Scotland for various 
heinous offences. The Duke of York retaliated by tor- 
turing and putting to death the Cameronians already in 
his hands. 

But Cargill could not long withstand the forces that 
were sent against him. He and most of his followers 



i68o. • The Cameromans. 



53 



were captured. Cargill was executed July, 1 68 1. Hack- 
stone, one of the murderers of archbishop Sharp, was 
amongst the prisoners. The accounts of the 
cruelties inflicted on the prisoners, by the Cmeitit?' 
Duke of York's own orders, appear almost inflicted on 

^ ^ prisoners. 

incredible, and equally so the well-estab- 
lished fact that the duke took personal pleasure in 
witnessing the infliction of tortures. Writer after writer 
bears witness to the unshaken constancy and firmness 
displayed by the sufferers, even by weak women. Of 
Hackstone it is stated that when, weakened by wounds, 
he was first brought before the council, he refused to 
answer their questions, that then the council, fearing he 
would sink under the slower sufferings of the ordinary 
tortures, sentenced him at once to have both his hands 
cut off, and then to be hanged ; that when the first part 
of the sentence was carried out and his hands had been 
cut off, he asked them, with an unshaken voice, if they 
did not mean to cut off his feet also ; and that, notwith- 
standing all the loss of blood, neither did his calmness 
desert him to the end, nor did he once lose his senses 
before he was hanged. Those of the Cameronians whom 
James did not put to death were either sent to the ' plan- 
tations ' in America, or were drafted into a Scottish 
regiment in the pay of the King of Spain. The former 
punishment was equivalent to being sold as slaves, the 
Matter was a most ingenious form of cruelty. A Scotch 
Cameronian hated the Pope and Roman Catholics as a 
Jew of old hated a Samaritan, and he was now forced to 
serve under the banner of the King of Spain, the tool 
of the Papacy. 



54 The Fall of the Stuarts y &*€. a.d. 



Section II. — The Scotch Parliament of 1681 and the 
Earl of Argyle. 

The Scotch Parliament summoned by the Duke of 
York met in July, 1681. One of the measures carried 
Test Act "^^^ a Test Act. The chief provisions of this 

carried. p^^<^ were repugnant to Presbyterians ; for by 

it, all who held office in Church or State were compelled 
to make a declaration affirming the doctrine of passive 
obedience to the Crown and undertaking never to at- 
tempt any alteration in the government of either Church 
or State. 

Even of the episcopal clergy a majority were opposed 
to the Act. They argued that if the king by a proclama- 
tion were to abolish episcopacy, by the terms 
quentiy of this ncw Test Act the clergy would be 

"ffi"^ ''®**2" bound to support him. The Episcopal 
Church of Scotland was, moreover, as yet, 
imperfectly constituted. Neither its liturgy nor its disci- 
pline had been legally confirmed, yet by the terms of the 
Act both clergy and laity undertook to attempt no altera- 
tion in it. The Church would, therefore, perforce, re- 
main unsettled. The result of the passing of the Act 
was that about eighty, and these the most pious and 
esteemed of the episcopal clergy, resigned their prefer- 
ments rather than make the declaration. 

Of the nobility many hesitated and procrastinated. 
One of the most powerful noblemen in Scotland was 
The Earl of Archibald Campbell, Earl of Argyle, chief 
Argyle. of the clan Campbell. He was son of that 

Marquis of Argyle who had taken so prominent a part in 
dethroning Charles I,, and had suffered death at the 
Restoration. The marquisate became extinct, but the 



1 68 1 The Scotch Parliament of 1681. 55 

son was permitted to inherit the old earldom of the 
family. 

Argyle had conformed to episcopacy, and had hitherto 
been useful to the Duke of York by assisting him in his 
plans for reducing the Scotch to submission. James 
seems, however, not to have wholly trusted Argyle, and 
to have considered him half-hearted in his adhesion. He 
thought Argyle had shown greater cordiality to Mon- 
mouth, when he was the king's representative in Scot- 
land, than to himself. Argyle also claimed certain here- 
ditary privileges which gave him almost royal authority 
in the Highlands, and these privileges James was anxious 
to secure for the Crown. 

Argyle was both a privy councillor and a commis- 
sioner of the treasury. For either of these offices the 
Test Act required him to qualify. James called on him 
to comply with the Act. At first Argyle dechned, but 
he afterwards agreed to make the required declaration, 
with an explanation subjoined, to the effect that the Act 
was in parts contradictory, and that he, by complying 
with it, did not debar himself from attempting in his 
station any amendment in Church or State. This reser- 
vation of Argyle's was twisted by the crown lawyers of 
Scotland into the crime of "leasing making," or of en- 
deavoring to sow discord between the king and his 
subjects. On this accusation Argyle was brought td 
trial. 

The Marquis of Montrose, the hereditary enemy of 
the Campbells, was " chancellor," or foreman of the jury. 
Argyle was found guilty, and sentenced to death. It ig 
asserted that it was never intended to carry 
out this sentence, but Argyle had no reason tdd^sen- 
to trust to the good faith of a Stuart. Aided escape!"** 
by his daughter-in-law. Lady Sophia Lind- 



56 The Fall of the Stuarts, &»c. a.d. 

say, and disguised. as her page, he effected his escape 
into Holland. The brutal and officious Scotch council 
proposed that the lady, for her share in her father-in-law's 
escape, should be publicly whipped. Even James, not 
usually lenient, would not consent to this. 

James' power was now apparently established in 
Scotland. The Presbyterians seemed to be crushed. 
The clergy who were scrupulous had resigned. The 
nobles who had shown an inclination to be independent 
had either left the kingdom or had been reduced to 
silence. The treatment which Argyle had received from 
James proved how little mercy would be shown to any- 
one offending, so that the Duke of York was feared as 
well as hated. 



CHAPTER V. 



ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND FROM 1 682 UNTIL THE DEATH 
OF CHARLES II. (1685). 

Section I.— William of Orange visits Charles, William, 
James, and Monmouth. 

William of Orange visited the court of Charles in the 
spring of 1682 in order to obtain his aid in withstanding 
the encroachments of Lewis XIV. In this 
WiSiam^^'- <^bJect William failed, for Charles had just 
himsd/with ^^^^^^^^ another large bribe from Lewis. 
the Whigs. But William's visit was made at an oppor- 
tune moment, for it enabled him to observe 
personally the state of affairs in England, and to form 
an estimate of the leading men of the state, and the 



1 682. William of Orange. 57 

relative value of their party politics. He seems to have 
come to the conclusion that it would be only by the triumph 
of Whig measures, and the return to power of Whig 
statesmen, that the influence and support of England 
could be withdrawn from Lewis XIV. Henceforth, there- 
fore, the leaders of the popular party looked to William 
to afford them moral and material assistance in withstand- 
ing the successive encroachments on the constitution, 
made, under the advice of Lewis, by Charles and James. 
James was surprised and displeased at Charles having 
permitted William to pay him a visit. He remonstrated 
with Charles by letter ; he moved one of the 
king's mistresses to plead his cause, and to Ingr^^at 
intercede for him. He asked that at any rate \yiiiiam's 

visit. 

he might be allowed to see his brother. On 
William's departure from London, Charles gave way, 
and invited James to meet him at Newmarket, where he 
intended to stay for some days to enjoy the races. 

James entered into a full explanation of his conduct 
in the North. He seems to have convinced Charles of 
the expediency of his measures ; he obtained from him 
full power to continue his course of persecution, and to 
place the administration in the hands of trustworthy 
noblemen. He also obtained from Charles permission 
to quit Scotland after he had thoroughly settled the 
affairs of that kingdom. 

At Yarmouth James embarked in the Gloucester 
frigate for Leith. In the night the ship struck on a sand- 
bank and became a wreck. James escaped 
with difficulty, caring more for the safety of , .James' 

snipwrcclc, 

his spaniels and his confessor than of his 
sailors and retinue. One hundred and thirty lives were 
lost. Amongst the survivors was Captain Churchill, the 
future Duke of Marlborough. 



58 The Fall of the Stuarts, &>€. a.d. 

The Scotch council met James at Edinburgh. To 

those nobles who could be depended on was entrusted, 

with the title of lords justice, the duty of 

James - . ... 1 <- 

finally cnforcmg uniformity and of stamping out 

SoTdand. ^^ Cameronians. James then finally left 

Scotland, but his policy was still continued 
with unabated vigor. The persecution suffered by the 
Cameronians, and by those suspected of aiding them, or 
of being even friendly disposed towards them, still forms 
in the present day the staple of the "household" 
stories of the lowlands of Scotland. 

Monmouth, to assure his friends and to increase his 
popularity, adopted the same plan which he had before 
found successful. As in 1680 he visited the west of 
England, so now in 1682 he made an almost royal pro- 
gress through the north-western counties, being every- 
where welcomed with enthusiasm. 

Charles was naturally incensed at this, and on Mon- 
mouth's return to London caused him to be arrested, 
and to be held to bail in ;!^io,ooo for his future good 
conduct. 

The Earl of Shaftesbury, on Monmouth's disgrace, 
fled to Holland. There he died a few weeks 
Shaftesbury. afterwards (January, 1683). 

Section II. — Attacks on the Charters of the Corpora- 
tions. 

The failure of the impeachment of Shaftesbury had 
much annoyed the court party. At the election this year 
rp (1682) of city officers, the Tories through 

Sheriffs intimidation and bribery gained an ascen- 

elected for -,.„.. 

the City of dancy, and many of the leading Whigs in 

London. _ , • . 

London were on various pretences prose- 
cuted and fined. The new sheriffs, whose duty it was 



1 682. The Corporations. 59 

to name the grand jury, were carefully selected- One of 
them was brother to Judge North, soon (December 20) to 
be appointed lord keeper and created Earl of Guildford. 

The burgesses or borough representatives in parlia- 
ment were chosen principally by the corporations of the 
boroughs. The corporations of most of the towns were 
Whigs, and were firm supporters of Protestant principles 
and civil liberty. They were consequently 
opposed to Charles, or rather to his policy. the^ity of 
It was thought that a good opportunity pre- backed 
sented itself to destroy the independence of 
these boroughs. The majority of the Corporation of the 
City of London, now composed of Tories, were not likely 
to offer any violent opposition to a measure of the court. 
It was determined therefore to make a bold attack on 
the privileges of the corporation of the chief city of the 
kingdom, and if this succeeded, to attack the charters of 
other boroughs in detail. 

The City of London claimed certain rights and privi- 
leges, amongst others that of levying tolls on various 
commodities, on the authority of by-laws passed by 
itself. A proceeding " quo warranto " was issued, to in- 
quire by what warrant the corporation exercised their 
rights and. privileges. If it were found that this warrant 
was insufficient, it was held that the charter of the cor- 
poration was forfeited. 

On June 12 (1683), the City of London was declared 
to have forfeited its charters. Several other towns lost 
their charters in a similar manner soon after- ^ ^ ^68^^ 
wards. The decision, that a corporation. London 

'^ _ , loses Its 

by an irregular action on its part, forfeited charter, and 

its charter and privileges, was not according boroughs 

to law. It affords another proof of the lil'ewise. 
shameful sycophancy of the judges. 



6o The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. 

The infamous Chief Justice Jeffreys, soon to acquire 
unenviable notoriety, was conspicuous in pronouncing 
judgments agreeable to the king. He is said to have 
" made all the charters, like the walls of Jericho, fall 
down before him," and to have " returned " from the 
circuit " laden with surrenders, the spoils of towns." For 
many towns, rather than incur the expense and risk of a 
trial, voluntarily surrendered their charters, and received 
fresh ones from the Crown. If Charles had summoned 
another parliament the Whig majority would have been 
much lessened, for owing to the new constitution of the 
corporations, crown nominees would have been re- 
turned. 

Section III. — 7he Rye House Plot. 

The successful attack on the corporations marked a 
great increase in the influence of the court. The Whigs, 
and not only the Whigs, but all Englishmen who loved 
their country, knew full well that these attacks on the 
liberties of the state were instigated by Lewis XIV., 
and that they were steps in reducing England to the 
same despotic rule as France. An attempt was therefore 
made to counteract these schemes for undermining the 
constitution. A " confederacy " \was formed, 
^cy'^fomed" It is doubtful whether the leaders, in carry- 
ing out their projects, were prepared to go 
to the length of involving their country in a civil war. 
Some of them had before disapproved of Shaftesbury's 
measures, as too revolutionary. They therefore could 
hardly have contemplated an appeal to arms. But those 
" agitations " which are undertaken by politicians in the 
present day for the purpose of obtaining a change of 
ministry, or the repeal of an obnoxious statute of tax, 
were then called conspiracies and high treason. 



1683. The Rye House Plot. 61 

The chief persons of the confederacy were Mon- 
mouth, the Earl of Essex, Lord Russell, Lord Grey, 
Lord Howard of Escrick, Algernon Sidney, ^^^^^^^ ^^. 
and Hampden, grandson of the patriot. the con- 

fcdcrs-CV 

Lord Essex and Lord Russell were known 
to be opposed to violent measures. Of the others, Lord 
Grey was more likely to be reckless. He was a man of 
bad private character ; he had been the defendant in 
one of the most disgraceful trials knpwn in the English 
law records, involving the honor of more than one noble 
family ; he was looked on as a man whose reputation 
was already gone, although he was Monmouth's most 
trusted friend. Sidney also might not have been one of 
the prudent ones. He was a republican by conviction ; 
and a philosopher who, although somewhat visionary, 
aimed consistently at religious and civil liberty, at free- 
dom of thought and action. 

Unfortunately for the leaders of the Whigs, certain 
of Shaftesbury's* followers were aware of the existence 
of the confederacy, and knew that active 

. . , ■, r Assassina- 

measures were bemg planned for over- tion plot, 
throwing the ascendancy of the Tories. 
They knew that Monmouth and the Whigs wished to 
upset the court influence, and to exclude the Duke of 
York from the succession. They thought that there was 
a more speedy and effectual way of carrying out their 
wishes. They plotted to assassinate Charles and the 
Duke of York as they returned from Newmarket races. 
A man named Keeling, a vintner, whose trade had 
fallen off and who was anxious to obtain some share 
in the pensions and places bestowed on in- 
formers, told Lord Dartmouth, a favorite of discloses 

the Duke of York, that a terrible plot for e p o . 

slaying the king and the Duke of York was preparing in 



62 The Fall of the Stuarts J ^'c, a.d. 

the city. Keeling had borne the character of being an 
active Whig, and had consequently been entrusted with 
some of the secrets of the conspirators. His story was 
that a man named Rumbold had a farm-house called Rye 
House, not far from Hoddesdon, in Hertfordshire; that 
this house was close to the high road from Newmarket 
to London ; that it was proposed to conceal some twenty 
or thirty men in that house, which was surrounded by a 
moat, and had also large farm buildings in which horses 
and accoutrements could be hidden ; that the king's 
coach, with its small escort of only five guards, was to be 
surrounded as it passed by the house ; that the guards 
were to be shot down, and the king and duke killed ; 
that this plot was to have been carried into execution on 
the king's previous return from Newmarket, had it not 
been that the king had returned two or three days earlier 
than was expected, owing to a fire having broken out in 
the royal lodgings at Newmarket. As there had been a 
fire atthe king's apartments on that visit, Keeling's story 
appeared to be in some degree trustworthy. Rumbold, 
therefore, and the other conspirators named by Keeling, 
were arrested, and in their possession were found various 
letters showing that they were in correspondence with 
the Whig leaders. 

Warrants were issued for the arrest of Monmouth, 
Lord Grey, Lord Russell, Lord Howard of Escrick, 
Algernon Sidney, Lord Essex, and others. 

All those engaged in the actual assassination plot 
who were captured, were tried and condemned on the 
Howard evidence of Keeling. But of the leaders in 

turns king's the political plot, or the confederacy, Mon- 

evidence 

mouth and Lord Grey escaped; Essex, 
Howard, Lord Russell, and Sidney alone were taken. 
Howard offered, when brought before the council, to 



1683. ^^^ ^y^ House Plot. d^ 

turn king's evidence. In 1674 he had been engaged in 
pohtical intrigues together with Shaftesbury, 
and when the crown lawyers had declared Lord ° 

the intrigues treasonable, he had then ob- Russell. 

tained his pardon and court favor by betraying his ac- 
complices. He now again adopted the same course. 
On July 13, 1683, Russell was brought to trial. 

The counsel for the Crown took advantage of every- 
thing which might press hard against the prisoner. When 
Russell requested that some one might take notes on his 
behalf, he was told a servant might do so. His wife was 
present, and fulfilled that duty for him. Lord Howard 
was brought forward to give evidence against the prison- 
er. He had just commenced by stating that the six 
leaders of the conspiracy were Monmouth, Essex, Sidney, 
Russell, Hampden, and himself, when a slight stir was 
evident in the court, and one of the officials whispered 
something in the witness's ear. His voice began to 
falter, and he could hardly be heard. The Lord Chief 
Justice requested him to speak louder, and asked him 
why he was so agitated. Howard said, "An unhappy 
accident hath just happened, that hath sunk my voice." 
The unhappy accident was the death of Lord Essex. 
On that morning, just as Lord Russell's trial had begun, 
the earl asked for a razor ; and, when it was 
brought him, went into his sleeping-room Loni^Essex 
and cut his throat. So determined was he, 
that his head was almost severed from his body ; and 
many persons doubted whether so fearful a 
wound could have been self-inflicted. Lord ofRussdr. 
Russell was found guilty, and sentenced to 
death. He was executed July 21. 

No man ever died who was more lamented. He was 
the most affectionate of husbands. When he had taken 



64 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. 



leave of his wife, he exclaimed, " Now the 

cnaracter. 



^'^ bitterness of death is passed." He was most 



beloved 15y his friends. Lord Cavendish 
would have saved him by exchanging clothes with him 
and remaining in his stead in prison. He was a true 
patriot ; his defence was that he labored not to change 
the constitution of his country, but to assert it. His 
name will always be revered by Englishmen, for his 
virtues were those which all men honor, his failings those 
which most men pardon. For his failings were, too 
credulous trust in such men as Howard, and indiscretion 
in allowing himself to be carried too far by his indigna- 
tion at the way in which his country's freedom was being 
trampled on. 

Sidney's trial took place in November. Lord Russell 
had at the commencement of his trial made an objection 
Trial of ^° ^^^ J^^Y b^cause they were not all free- 

Algernon holders. The answer to the objection was 

bidney. _ ■' 

that the law directed that the jury should be 
chosen from freeholders, in order to ensure their being 
men of some property, and therefore by presumption 
more intelligent; that this would not be necessary in the 
case of the jury trying Russell, because it was a jury of 
the city of London, and that in fact a sufficient number 
of freeholders could not be found, for few of the princi- 
pal merchants and tradesmen living in the city were 
freeholders. Sidney was to be tried by a Middlesex jury, 
and he also objected to some of the members as not being 
freeholders. Jeffreys presided at the trial as Lord Chief 
Justice. He overruled the objection, although the prin- 
ciple had been admitted in Russell's trial, for in that case 
the exception was claimed for a jury of London, and the 
reason for allowing the exception would not apply to the 
county of Middlesex. This overruling of Jeffreys was 



1683. The Rye House Plot. 65 

delivered in terms which were studiously cruel and vin- 
dictive. He maintained the same conduct throughout 
the trial. He hurled bitter invectives against the prisoner, 
he strained the law against him when the law was doubt- 
ful, he tightened the fetters of the law when the law was 
clearly in favor of the Crown. 

The chief witness against Sidney was Lord Howard. 
This time he told his tale with greater confidence, and 
in a more coherent form. The statute which regulates 
the form of trial for high treason requires that there 
should be a second witness to corroborate the first. The 
Crown produced no second witness to corroborate Lord 
Howard ; but Jeffreys ruled that a manuscript found 
amongst Sidney's papers might be put in to supply the 
place of the second witness. The manuscript had never 
been published, and was not proved to be even in Sid- 
ney's handwriting. It advocated a republican form of 
government, and Jeffreys again ruled that it afforded cor- 
roborative evidence, inasmuch as the doctrines advocated 
in it were such as, when carried into practice, might lead 
to such acts as Lord Howard swore to. The Lord Chief 
Justice therefore allowed opinions to be proof of facts. 
Sidney argued against this illegal decision in vain. Not- 
withstanding that prisoners on their trial for treason were 
allowed counsel to argue disputed points of the law, al- 
though they might not cross-examine witnesses nor ad- 
dress the jury, yet Jeffreys refused to allow Sidney any 
counsel, maintaining that there was no doubtful point of 
law in his case. 

Sidney was found guilty, and executed. He died with 
the calm composure of a philosopher. He was one of 
the last of that generation of pure republi- 
cans who could brook neither the enlight- death^and 
ened rule of a Cromwell nor the senseless character. 



66 The Fall of the Stuarts^ &=€. a.d. 

despotism of a Charles. Of noble family, and of refined 
habits, he was led by his philosophy to be a despiser of 
kings and a lover of equality. He advocated religious 
freedom, not from love of religion, but because his phi- 
losophy caused him to think all religions equally faulty. 
His was a speculative and not a practical mind. His 
habits were rather those of a student than of an active 
politician. 

Monmouth having made an abject apology for his 
offences was pardoned and returned to court, for the king 

" still loved him passionately." Weak and 
Ji?d™ned?^ vain though he was, he was not however so 
Hampden is degraded as to play the part allotted to him, 

that of evidence for the crown with Howard. 
It was necessary for Hampden's conviction to find two 
witnesses, for he had no written papers to be brought 
against him. Halifax and the Duke of York therefore 
hoped that Monmouth would by his evidence corroborate 
that of Howard. This Monmouth flatly refused to do. 
He was accordingly subpoenaed to appear at the trial. 
He immediately fled to the Continent. 

Hampden escaped with a fine of 40,000/, Others who 
were inculpated in the " Rye House Plot," as they fell 
one by one into the hands of the Government, suffered 
on the scaffold. Some of these were even seized abroad, 
and brought to England for trial and conviction. 

Section IV. — Duke of York reinstated in Office. 

The confidence of the king's party, that is, of the ultra- 
royalists, was unbounded. 

Tangier, the dowry of the queen, that African town 

for the possession of which so much diplomacy had been 

exerted, for which Dunkirk had been aban- 

dismantled. doncd, and on the fortification of which so 



1684. Duke of York reinstated in Office. 67 

much money had been expended, was now dismantled, 
and its garrison brought back to England. 

The soldiers, instead of being discharged, were still 
kept in pay. The king had previously had distinctly 
attached to himself, and paid by him, a cer- ^^^ garrison 
tain number of guards. This addition was forms the 

comiHGncc- 

the commencement of a standing army. mentofa 
The troops from Tangier (forming regiments army!''^ 
still existing as the ist Dragoons and the 
2d and 4th Foot) brought up the personal army of 
Charles to 1,700 cavalry and 7,000 foot. Paid by the 
king, owing allegiance to no other authority than that of 
the king, this army was looked on with extreme disfa- 
vor by all lovers of the constitution. For England's 
constitutional force was the militia, which could be called 
together by parliament through the lords-lieutenant of 
the counties. A large standing army was feared as a 
means by which a tyrant might be able to coerce a free 
people. This increase to the guards, although as yet 
the whole army was hardly large enough to intimidate 
London alone, made the Whigs uneasy, and in like pro- 
portion raised higher the spirits of the court party. 

Charles now therefore thought himself strong enough 
to reinstate his brother in his office of lord high admiral 
and in his seat at the council. James had ^ ^ ^gg^ 
been obliged to resign both these offices in James 
1673, when the Test Act was passed which 
forbade any one to hold office unless he qualified for 
doing so by receiving the sacrament according to the 
rites of the English Church, and by signing a declaration 
against the Romish doctrine of Transubstantiation. The 
king now "dispensed" with the provisions of the Act, 
and James was restored to his dignities. 

Although the Whigs were discomfited and 5,000 troops 



6S The Fall of the Stuarts y ^'c. a.d. 

were quartered in London, it is doubtful whether this 
^ . reinstatement of the Duke of York in his 

Princess 

Anne offices would not have caused much indig- 

Prince nation and outspoken dissatisfaction, had it 

Denmark ^°^ been for the wedding in the previous year 

(1683) of Anne, James' second daughter, with 
Prince George of Denmark, a Protestant. The marriage 
was a popular one, and did much to remove the suspicion 
with which James, as an avowed Papist, was regarded. 

Section V. — Death of Charles II. 

The year 1685 opened with gloomy prospects for the 
Whigs. The leaders were either exiled or disgraced, 
A. D 1685. ^^^ "o Parliament had been summoned 
Condition since 1681. The courtiers were revelling in 

of b^ngland ° 

in 16&5. extravagance and profligacy, and the money 

for enabling them to do so was received from France. 
The courts of justice were disgraced by the buUying de- 
meanor and the undisguised partiality of the judges. 
Romish priests, in defiance of law, openly exercised their 
functions and celebrated mass. The air was thick with 
rumors of plots, Protestant as well as Papist. Many of 
the chief towns, the strongholds of the national party, 
had lost their charters altogether, or had paid heavy 
fines to preserve them with diminished privileges. 

The English government was directed by Barillon, 
ambassador of Lewis XIV., and England, under the 
" Trimmer '* Halifax, was fast settling down into a French 
province. 

On February 5, Charles was seized with a fit of apo- 
plexy. Dr. King, one of the court physicians, happen- 
ing to be present, bled the king, which gave 
cSiis^lL ^i"^ temporary rehef ; but on the following 
day another attack occurred, which carried 



1685. Death of Cha?'ies II. 69 

him off after a few hours. His death-bed was marked by 
the same duplicity as his life had been. Bishops filled 
the room, anxious to administer the sacrament accord- 
ing to the rites of the Church of England to the dying 
man, so that all doubt as to his being a sincere member 
of their church might be removed. But Charles put them 
off. In the mean time, the Duke of York had, at inter- 
vals, carried on a whispered conversation with him, 
which ended in his telling those assembled that it was 
the king's wish that the room should be cleared of all 
but two or three of his personal attendants. Clergy and 
physicians were therefore hurried out of the room, and 
immediately one Huddleston, a Romish priest, in dis- 
guise, entered by a back staircase. To him the king 
made his last confession, and from him received 
absolution and extreme unction. 

Thus died Charles II. of England, a tool in the hands 
of Lewis XIV. of France. A tool by whose use Lewis 
hoped to gain the supremacy in Western Europe, trust- 
ing that then the Imperial Crown and Spain might in 
due course follow. Through Charles also, Lewis hoped 
that the spirit of Protestantism, the spirit of freedom, 
which was essentially opposed to his projects, might be 
so crushed in England as to be unable in future to afford 
either moral or material support to those on the Conti- 
nent who persisted in adhering to it. 

Charles was naturally attractive. He was amiable in 
conversation, and had the manners of a well-bred gen- 
tleman ; but of the feelings of a true gen- 
tleman he was ignorant, for he was a sensu- charfes^Yi. "^ 
alist and a most selfish one. His great 
object was to be freed from care, to gratify every passing 
desire, to be surrounded by smiling faces — faces of hand- 
some men and beautiful women — to be popular wherever 



7o The Fall of the Stuarts, d^'c. a.d. 

he went, and into what company he might be thrown. 
Good-tempered, because good temper saved annoyance ; 
generous to those around him, because it was too much 
trouble to refuse trifling boons ; he was nevertheless 
one of the most cruel and hard-hearted of men. For he 
was the incarnation of selfishnesss ; he would sacrifice 
any one for his self-gratification ; he believed in no vir- 
tue and shrank from no vice. 

" Like master, like man ; " as was the king, so was the 
court. " We are much indebted, " says Hallam, " to 
, the memory of the courtiers and favorites 

court. of Charles II. They played a serviceable 

part in ridding the kingdom of its besotted 
loyalty. They saved our forefathers from the Star 
Chamber and the High Commission Court ; they labored 
in their vocation against standing armies and corruption ; 
they pressed forward the great ultimate security of Eng- 
lish freedom, the expulsion of the house of Stuart. " 



CHAPTER VI. 



LEWIS XIV. AND FRANCE, TO THE REVOCATION OF THE 
EDICT OF NANTES (OCTOBER 12, 1685). 

Section I. — The Chambers of Reunion. 

Lewis XIV., after the signing of the Treaty of Nim- 
wegen, resolved to follow the policy advocated by Col- 
bert, and to give France breathing time to 
Lewis' replenish her resources ; but he also made 

c aims. ^p j^jg mind to try what advantages in de- 

termining the boundaries of the kingdom he might gain 



1678. The Chambers of Reunion, 71 

by diplomacy, and what privileges over the neighboring 
states he might venture to exercise. 

At the Peace of Westphaha (1648), the bishoprics of 
Metz, Toul, and Verdun, already long possessed by 
France, had been formally ceded to her. To ^ ^ ^g 
these bishoprics had been formerly attached Lewis esta- 
certain fiefs in Germany, and over these fiefs Chambers of 

_ . 1 • J • i T^u T • Reunion. 

Lewis now claimed sovereignty. The claim 
had been left unsettled at the Peace of Nimwegen. 
Lewis (1679), reopened the question, and added further 
complications with regard to his newly acquired territo- 
ries of Elsass (Alsace, 1648), and Franche Comte (1678). 
This claim of Lewis XIV. may be likened to a king of 
France demanding of a king of England the recognition 
of certain rights over English lands, because these lands 
had formerly been part of the possessions of Norman 
abbeys, when Normandy and England were under one 
monarch. In order to give some legal sanction to his 
claims, Lewis made use of the parliaments of Metz 
(Lothringen), Besangon (Franche Comt6), and Breisach 
(Elsass). In these he established chambers, called 
" Chambres Royales de Reunion," to investigate the 
claims put forth by the French king. 

The members of these chambers had been well pre- 
pared by Lewis' emissaries, and they decided that, by 
virtue of the Treaties of Westphaha (1648), Decisions 

the Pyrenees (1650), and Nimwegen, va- °( the 

. .1 1 1 • 1 r 11 Chambers. 

nous territories on the borders rightfully 
belonged to France. 

The effect of this decision was to take away from the 
King of Sweden his duchy of Zweibrucken (Deux Ponts) ; 
and from the Elector of Trier (Treves), the Elector 
Palatine, the Duke of Wiirtemberg, and other sovereign 
princes, several counties and lordships. 



72 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. 

The city of Strasburg was an imperial city, but Lewis 
exerted all his ingenuity to get possession of it. He 
A.D. 1681. managed to obtain a decree from the ac- 
Stmsbfrg"' commodating chamber of Breisach, to the 
by strata- effect that Strasburg had been formerly a 

dependent fief and could not be alienated 
from Elsass, which was now French territory. The 
municipality of the city was gained over to the French 
cause by bribery. A large force was hastily and secretly 
assembled in the neighborhood. The magistrates had 
removed all means of defence. The imperial officer 
acting as resident in the city had no alternative but to 
leave. Without one drop of bloodshed, Lewis thus 
gained possession of a city which was considered the 
key of the Upper Rhine. Strasburg was forthwith re- 
fortified by Vauban. It was converted into a fortress of 
the first magnitude, and became the bulwark of France 
on its eastern frontier. A medal was struck to com- 
memorate the completion of the work, bearing the in- 
scription " Clausa Germanis Gallia" (France closed to 
the Germans). 

On October 23, 1681, Lewis entered Strasburg in state. 
Section H. — Further ambitious Schemes of Lewis. 

The designs of Lewis on the Imperial Crown were 

now understood by the European princes. It was there- 

^ fore determined that a strong effort should 

Lewis pre- u j i i ■ 

pares to DC made to thwart his ambitious projects. A 

Luxemburg, treaty was therefore concluded iDetween 
\ort^^l Sweden. Holland, Germany, and Spain, 
who engaged to enforce observance of the 
conditions of the Treaty of Nimwegen. Lewis had 
assembled an army for the Blockade of Luxemburg; but 
on hearing of this treaty he hastily withdrew his troops, 



1 682. Further ambifious Schemes of Lewis. 73 

and proposed a mediator to adjudge on the validity of 
his various claims. The mediator he proposed was 
Charles II. of England. 

Pope Innocent XI. (1676-1689) had been unfriendly 
with Lewis. He disliked the king's encouragement of 
the Jesuits, and objected to his interference 

■' ■' , _ , . A. D. 1682. 

in purely ecclesiastical matters. But his Affair of the 
anger was roused by Lewis claiming the ^^^®" 

right of the " Regale," that is the royal right to present to 
all benefices in a see as long as the see continues vacant, 
and to receive the income of the see until the new bishop has 
taken the oath of allegiance. This right the pope resisted. 
Lewis accordingly convoked an assembly of the 
French clergy. Under the influence of Bossuet, Bishop 
of Meaux, the " Declaration of the Clergy of ^^^ Decla- 
France" was drawn up, March, 1682. The ration of the 

Clergy 

declaration asserted: — i, that the pope has 
no power in temporal matters ; 2, that the pope's spiritual 
authority is limited by the canons of the Church : 3, that 
the pope's decrees are not infallible unless confirmed by a 
general council ; 4, that the pope cannot subvert any of 
the liberties or constitutions of the Gallican Church. A 
royal edict converted this " Declaration " into law. The 
pope condemned the Declaration, and ordered it to be 
pubhcly burnt at Rome. It was many years before the 
difficulty was finally arranged, and then not in the life- 
time of Pope Innocent. He therefore was one of the 
numerous opponents of Lewis' policy. 

If we turn to the East, we shall find that (1683), 
Vienna was threatened by the Turks, whose army lay 
encamped before the city. Lewis was be- 

^ ■' . . A. D. 1683. 

lieved to have encouraged the Sultan in his Lewis 
advance into Europe. He hoped that all Spanish 
the forces and energy of Germany would be Netherlands. 



74 The Fall of the Stuarts^ &^c. a.d. 

engaged in contending with the Turks, and that it would 
be unable to give assistance to Spain or Holland, He 
then seized the opportunity to invade the Spanish 
Netherlands. Courtrai and Dixmuide were taken by 
him, and Luxemburg was threatened. Spain in vain 
looked for succor to her allies. Charles of England was 
in the pay of Lewis ; the Emperor was occupied by the 
Turkish war; Sweden was powerless; and William, the 
Stadtholder, could not persuade the States-General, to do 
more than make strong protests against Lewis' en- 
croachments. 

In June 1684 Luxemburg fell, and Trier (Treves), 

was taken and dismantled. Holland offered to mediate, 

William being evidently aware that the 

A. D. 1684. ^ ■' 

Treaty of present was not an opportune moment to 

burg^"^ continue the struggle. The preliminary con- 

dition made by the States was that their 
territories should be respected. Lewis having agreed to 
this, Holland concluded a treaty of peace with Lewis 
for twenty years, and compelled Spain also to accede, 
Lewis, being permitted to retain Luxemburg, but restoring 
to Spain Courtrai and Dixmuide. The emperor also 
agreed to the treaty, and it was formally signed at Re- 
gensburg (Ratisbon), August 15, 1684. 

One clause in this armed truce of twenty years (for 
such only it was) gave to France possession of all those 
places adjudged to her by the Chambers of Reunion up 
to August I, 1 68 1, but disallowed any claims put forward 
after that date. 

Section III. — The Huguenots, and the Revocation of 
the E<iict of Nantes. 

The Protestants in France were called Huguenots. 
The origin of the name is doubtful. Some derive it from 



1684. The Huguenots. 75 

" Eidffenossen " (confederates), a term used 

r 1 ri r c^ • 11 ^i HugUCnOtS, 

for the confederates of Switzerland. Others Origmofthe 
derive it from a small and almost worth- °^"^^- 
less coin of the time of the French King Hugues 
(987-996). A third and more probable derivation is 
from " Hugon," a provincialism used in the city of Tours 
and its neighborhood to denote a nightmare or bad 
dream (what we call a bugbear) ; and naughty children 
were frightened by the threat of sending for Hugon, or 
King Hugon. So in some parts of England the expres- 
sion King Huggermugger is used in the same way. This 
term Huguenot then was a term of opprobrium applied 
by French Roman Catholics to their Protestant fellow- 
countrymen. 

Henry IV., who had succeeded to the throne of France 
in 1589, was by birth a Huguenot. He found that as 
long as he remained a member of that faith 

. . . . A. D. 1598. 

his kingdom would never be without civil Edict of 

war. He therefore abjured Protestantism 
in 1 593, and became a Catholic, but at the same time, 
he endeavored to propitiate the good-will of the Hugue- 
nots, and to prevent a renewal of the religious wars 
which had devastated whole provinces of France, by 
issuing the celebrated edict of Nantes, 1 598. This edict 
was one of the first of those laws which breathed a spirit 
of tolerance, and aimed a blow at the exclusive claims 
put forth by the Romish Church in Catholic countries. 
It secured to the Huguenots the free exercise of their re- 
ligion ; admission to colleges, hospitals, and schools ; 
permission to hold offices of trust without having to take 
oaths repugnant to their principles ; and, above all, re- 
served for them certain fortified towns to which they 
might retire for security if persecutions arose. 

Under the protection of this edict the Huguenots be- 



76 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^^T'c. a.d. 

came the most active and wealthy portion of the French 
,„ , , . nation. Devoting themselves for the most 

Wealth of ° 

the Hugue- part to commerce, the chief industries and 
manufactures were in their hands, and on 
them most of the mercantile prosperity of France de- 
pended. 

The toleration of doctrines differing from those held 
by the State Church was little understood in the seven- 
teenth century, and was totally opposed to 
Lewis^perl the ideas of Lewis XIV. As soon as Lewis 
secutes Pro- took the reins of power in his hands, so 

tet>tants. ^ ' 

soon began the persecution of Protestants. 
One by one their privileges were curtailed. In 1661 
their right of private meetings was taken from them. In 
1663 decrees were issued forbidding Protestants to keep 
schools of an upper grade, and permitting the children 
of Protestant parents, while of tender age, to change 
their religion without the consent of their parents. This 
harsh treatment of the Protestants continued until 1666, 
in which year Lewis was persuaded by Colbert to stay 
his hand, and promulgate no new laws against the liber- 
ty of the Huguenots. 

In 1675, however, a new disturbing influence made 
itself felt in the person of Madame de Maintenon. This 

lady had been born and bred a Huguenot, 
Madame de ^^yt having embraced the Roman Catholic 

Maintenon. ° 

religion, showed all the zeal of a convert for 
her new faith. She was the widow of a second-rate au- 
thor named Scarron, and had been employed for many 
years as governess to some of Lewis' illegitimate chil- 
dren. Acting in this capacity, she had gained the affec- 
tions of the king. Lewis was attracted towards her not 
so much by her beauty, which was mature and ripened, 
as by her wit, her prudence, her refinement, and her 



1 68 4' The Huguenots. 77 

rare gift of conversation. He experienced a new pleasure 
in the society of a woman who flattered him without 
fawning on him, and who appealed to those sentimental 
feelings which a man of ill-regulated mind is apt to call 
his better nature. Under the influence of Madame de 
Maintenon, Lewis returned to what she was pleased to 
designate the paths of virtue. Once more he lived on 
proper terms with his queen, Maria Theresa, and he set 
his mind on effecting a reformation in the religious belief 
of his subjects, which should equal the reformation which 
his own morals had undergone. All France therefore 
was to be converted to the Roman Catholic religion. In 
this resolve Lewis was strengthened not only by the se- 
ductions of Madame de Maintenon, but also by the en- 
treaties of the celebrated bishop Bossuet, who had been 
so zealous an ally in his quarrel with the pope, and by 
the injunctions of his trusted confessor. Father la Chaise. 
Colbert still strove against these allied influences, and 
for a time with some effect, but in 1683 Col- ,. 

^ A. D. 1683. 

bert died, and Louvois, now Lewis' minister, Death of 
put no restraint on the king's wishes. 

Shortly after Colbert's death, Maria Theresa also died. 
After a few weeks' interval, Lewis privately, _ , , 

• ■.• 1 1 TT -1, 1 11- Death of 

m his chapel at Versailles, bestowed his Maria 

hand on the widow of Scarron. Henceforth, ancf Lewis' 

although she was styled only " Madame la wUh"^^^ 

Marquise de Maintenon," she wielded the Madame de 

- , , 1 1 T -1 Maintenon. 

power 01 a queen, and demanded the sub- 
mission and defence due to a crowned head. 

Now again burst forth persecutions of the Protestants. 
Protestant churches were closed. Protestants were for- 
bidden to plead in the law courts. Mar- 

^ _ _ New perse- 

riages of Protestants with Catholics were de- cutions of 
ciared illegal, and their children illegitimate. 



78 The Fall of the Stuarts, &>€, a. p. 

To Protestants the tax-gatherer paid daily visits. On 
Protestant householders were billeted twice the number 
of soldiers that the law compelled them to entertain. 

In many parts of France, and more particularly in the 
south, insurrections broke out ; and to quell these out- 
„, pj breaks, dragoons (soldiers who were accus- 

gonnades. tomcd to serve alike on foot or horseback) 

were employed. In many a town inhabited 
by Protestants, brutal atrocities were committed by these 
emissaries of religion. Huguenots, old and young alike, 
were put to death, and the women were subjected to 
every indignity. To escape from these dragomtades , as 
the military persecutions were called, there seemed but 
one means, flight. Hundreds of Huguenots sold their 
property, and were welcomed in England and Holland 
with open arms. This emigration was, however, put a 
stop to by fresh edicts uttered by Louvois. 

In 1685 the finishing stroke was put to the work of 

the conversion of all France by the revocation of the 

edict of Nantes. By this formal act not 

Revoca^dok merely were all privileges taken away 

of the edict fj.Qjj^ ti^e Protestants, but it was ordered that 

of Nantes. 

every Protestant church should be demo- 
lished ; that the exercise of the Protestant religion should 
be punished by perpetual imprisonment ; that all Pro- 
testant children should forthwith be baptized by Romish 
priests ; that all Protestant clergymen should either re- 
nounce their faith, or immediately quit France. To en- 
force these ordinances, the dragonnades became more 
and more severe. Louvois ordered the dragoons to live 
" licentiously." Fearful were the sufferings of the perse- 
cuted Protestants. 

Thousands ( 200,000,) after undergoing perils of every 
description, escaped to happier lands. Arriving almost 



1 685' The Huguenots. 79 

penniless, their industry and talents soon 

provided tiiem with plenty. England, Hoi- emigrate 

^ T-v I 1- ana enrich 

land, Germany, Denmark were each en- foreign 
riched by the labor of the foreigners. One countries, 
district of London, Spitalfields, was colonized entirely by 
weavers of silk from Lyons and Touraine. In Holland 
manufactures of silk and paper were established by the 
refugees. Berlin was a small city of 1 5,000 inhabitants ; 
thither came an influx of 20,000 Huguenots, materially 
affecting not only an increase of the city, but a corre- 
sponding improvement in its trade and Wealth. Among 
the men of eminence who left their country were 
Duquesne, the first of the naval officers of France, who 
died in Switzerland ; Marshal Schomberg, afterwards to 
become the most trusted general of William of Orange ; 
de Ruvigny, afterwards Earl of Galway ; Rapin, the his- 
torian ; Papin, the natural philosopher. Many of the 
great English families of the present day were founded 
by the Huguenots. 

The industries of several French towns, such as Tours 
and Caen, were for a time completely ruined, but the 
flatterers of Lewis sang his praises. The „, _ 

^1 11 1 ^ 11- 1 . • T^« French 

Chancellor le Tellier, bemg at the pomt of courtiers 
death, and the news of the revocation of the ^^J°^'^^- 
edict of Nantes being brought to him, chanted the " Song 
of Simeon. " Bossuet, the champion of the liberties of 
the Gallican Church against papal encroachments, com- 
pared Lewis to each of the heroes of Christendom, from 
Constantine to Charles the Great. Madame de Sevigne, 
the refined educationalist, was loud in her praises. The 
freethinkers and philosophers, the voluptuous courtiers, 
and the sneering cynics, all applauded an act which re- 
moved from France the Protestants. For, said they, 
these Huguenots will one day become dangerous, since 



8o The Fall of the Stuarts^ &*c. a.d. 

their very existence proclaims a principle of revolution 
which a prudent and far-seeing monarch should stamp 
out of his subjects. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ACCESSION OF JAMES II. OF ENGLAND. 

Section I. — James' Policy on his Accession. 

Charles II. had died February 6 ; his brother, James, 

Duke of York, succeeded him as James II., and was 

crowned April 23. James knew the opinion 

of James which his Subjects held of him. At his 

II ... 

interview with the privy council he declared 

that although he had been ever represented as fond of 

arbitrary power, they should find the contrary ; that he 

would endeavor to maintain the government both in 

Church and State as by law established ; and that as, 

on the one hand, he would never yield the just rights 

and prerogatives of the Crown, so on the other hand the 

property and person of every subject should be secure. 

He added that the members of the Church of England 

had always been good and loyal subjects, and therefore 

he would always support and defend their Church. 

James II., son of Charles I., was born October 15, 

1633 ; he was consequently in his fifty-second year at 

^, his accession. His education in the trou- 

of James blous timcs of his boyhood had been much 

neglected, and his naturally slow perception 

had not therefore been quickened. He was one of the 

most obstinate of men ; and his obstinacy often prompted 



1685. James' Policy on his Accession, 81 

him to run directly counter to the wishes of his ad- 
visers. When a boy and an exile in France, he with- 
stood all his mother's entreaties, and all the pressure 
put on him by the French court and clergy, to become a 
Roman Catholic ; the more he was urged, the stronger 
became his Protestant sympathies But when he had 
returned to England, and found papists hated and feared 
by English churchmen as well as dissenters, then he be- 
came a Roman Catholic. Before the Restoration ( 1660) 
he had been solicited to join in a faction which had for 
its object the overthrow of the authority exercised by 
Lord Clarendon in the little H:ourt of the exiled royal fami- 
ly ; James acquiesced at first, but in the end married 
Clarendon's daughter, Anne. Joined to this obstinacy 
was a certain steadiness and regularity in business mat- 
ters, which would have fitted him to be a good head 
of a department in the civil service. His administra- 
tion of the navy from 1660 until 1673 was accordingly 
respectable, and formed a marked contrast to the mis- 
erable inefficiency presented by the same service from 
1673 until 1685. But James had none of the heartiness of 
manner which rendered his brother Charles, in spite of 
his faults, popular. As licentious and selfish as Charles, 
he had no-ne of the latter's bonko?nie ; narrow-minded, 
stern, unforgiving, cruel, his character had but few re- 
deeming points. 

James' first wife, Anne Hyde, had died in 167 1, leav- 
ing two daughters ; the elder, Mary, born 1662, and 
married in 1677 to her first cousin, William, james' 

Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the United family. 

Provinces ; the younger, Anne, born in 1665, and married 
in 1683 to Prince George, brother of the King of Den- 
mark. James had married secondly, in 1673, the Princess 
Mary of Este, sister of the Duke of Modena. She had as 

G 



82 The Fall of the Stuarts, &'c. a.d. 

yet no son, and of her five daughters all had died young. 
Her only son, James Francis Edward, was not born until 
June lo, 1688. 

The accession of James was as peaceful as if he had 

been the well beloved of his subjects. The speech he 

made to his privy council had been industri- 

Jnd reaT'"^^ ously circulated, and had somewhat calmed 

advisers of ^-j^g natural feelings of alarm entertained by 

James. ° 

English churchmen. He retained in office 
the ministers of the late king. But Lord Halifax was not 
trusted by him ; he could not forgive his conduct in hav- 
ing proposed, in the short Oxford parliament, a regency 
bill which would have curtailed his powers on his acces- 
sion. The king preferred the other ministers, Rochester, 
Godolphin, and Sunderland. Atthe same time he gathered 
around him a secret council of Roman Catholics, whose 
advice he took rather than that of his ministry. This 
secret council, which had with him as much influence as 
can be exercised over an obstinate man, was composed 
of Father Petre, the Jesuit, and the Lords Tyrconnel, 
Dover, Arundel, Castlemaine, and Powys. 

Nothing could have been devised by James more likely 
to arouse the apprehensions of his subjects than his first 
„, ^ two public acts after his coronation. He 

The first ^ . . - 

public acts assisted at the public celebration of a mass 
James. ,^ ^^^ royal chapel ; and he ordered the cus- 

toms and excise duties to be collected as usual, although 
they could not be legally demanded until they had been 
voted by parliament. 

Section H. — Lewis XIV. and James, 

Some apprehension had been felt by the French am- 
bassador, Barillon, that James intended to follow a 



1685. New Parliaments, 83 

policy with regard to France differing from 
that which had been followed by Charles. trie" the 

The courtiers openly declared that England bdber°^ 

was now to be independent, was to assume 
her proper position in Europe, and that the supremacy 
of France was at an end. Barillon represented his fears to 
his master, Lewis XIV. The arrogant bearing of 
Churchill, newly created Baron Churchill, who had been 
despatched as special envoy to Versailles to announce the 
death of Charles and the accession of James, in some de- 
gree confirmed Barillon's suspicions. Money 

° r y ainj James 

was however already secretly offered to independence 
James, and Barillon soon found that French ^'^ 
money was as necessary to the new king as to the late 
one. 

James desired the restoration of the Roman Catholic 
religion, and freedom from the control of parliament. 
Had he been able to effect these objects 

•' Mutual 

without the support of France and without relations of 
French money, he would have been a happy Lewfs. ^" 
man, but he was not able ; and therefore he 
bore with the patronage, and took the money, of Lewis, 
although at the expense of his pride. 

Lewis desired to meet with no obstacle in his persecu- 
tion of the Protestants in France, and to be looked on as 
the most powerful sovereign of Europe. For these 
objects England must be kept subservient, and money 
must therefore be freely provided, both for the private 
use of the king, and for the judicious bribery of all 
classes of English politicians. 

Section IH. — The new Parliaments in England amd 

Scotland. 

On April 23, 1685, the Scotch Estates met. As Epis- 



84 The Fall of the Stuarts f ^c. a.d. 

copalians only could sit in them, and as these formed 
but a small minority of Scotchmen, it was 
Estates°^^ not probable that the laws passed by them 
would be acceptable to the great body of 
the people, who were ardent Presbyterians. Episcopa- 
lians in Scotland were always Tories, and James asked 
them to continue the same line of conduct as he had 
pursued when Lord High Commissioner. His letter to 
this effect was read at the opening of the session, and 
was willingly obeyed. A still more rigid law than had 
been previously in force was passed against the cove- 
nanters. It imposed the penalty of death and of confis- 
cation of property on every one who preached in a room, 
or attended an open-air conventicle. The giving or 
taking the oath of the covenant was also declared trea- 
son. The new parliament also proved its adherence to 
the most extreme form of the doctrine of the divine right 
of kings, for it solemnly declared its detestation of " all 
principles and positions contrary and derogatory to the 
king's sacred, supreme, sovereign, and absolute power 
and authority." 

As soon as the act against the covenanters was 
passed, active steps were taken to carry it out. The 
counties of Dumfries, Wigton, Ayr, Lanark, and Kirkcud- 
Persecu- bright, were harassed by bands of regular 

tions in the soldiers and militia. The leader of these 

bouth- 

western bands was the same Graham of Claverhouse 

who had in 1679 been defeated at Drumclog, 
and after the battle of Bothwell Bridge had earned the 
name of "bloody Claverhouse." At the head of his 
regiment of dragoons, he was foremost in the cruel and 
murderous attempts to exterminate the covenanters. 
There are historians who attempt to excuse the cruelties 
practised as necessary to put down an incipient rebellion 



1685. New Parliaments, 85 

in a disaffected part of the country ; but the perpetrators 
of the crimes, in their official reports, never speak of their 
victims as rebels, but as wilful and obstinate noncon- 
formists, and as men holding pernicious doctrines. The 
persecution was religious more than political, and was 
doubtless an imitation of the dragonnades of Lewis. 
The murders of Brown, the carrier, in Lanarkshire, of 
Gillies and Bryce in Ayrshire, of Margaret Wilson and 
Margaret Maclachlan in Wigtonshire, roused the feeling 
of hatred against James and episcopacy to the utmost. 
The South-western Lowlands, although crushed, were 
forever alienated from the house of Stuart. 

The English parliament met May 19, 1685. In the 
attacks made on the charters of many English boroughs, 
the majority of the electors had lost their 
privilege of voting, and in such boroughs ^^^E^^i^'^h 
members who were devoted to James were Parliament 
returned. Tory principles had also un- ^' 

doubtedly gained ground. French gold, again, had con- 
verted many wavering politicians into friends of the court. 
Yet the combination of all these circumstances hardly 
accounts for the servility shown to James by both Houses 
in the two short sessions of 1685. 

James' attachment to the Roman Catholic religion, so 
openly displayed, wrought a great change in the feelings 
of English churchmen. In the reign of 
Charles parliament had continually opposed England in 
the court and defended the constitution, an ^iiL^t pa"' 
the Church had as constantly supported the ^^b^1"nt^ 
king; but, in the beginning of James' reign, 
churchmen, in fear of Rome and of attempts being made 
to reconcile England with the pope, became the de- 
fenders of the constitution, and formed the Opposition 
in parliament, which now, for the first time in the 



86 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. 

century, was tamely submissive to the wishes of the 
sovereign. 

The first measures passed by parhament showed James 
„ , he might depend on its zeal and submission. 

Parliament . r -n- i 

grants A revenue of two millions was granted to 

large reve- ^he king. The severities of the law against 
nue, and treason Were also increased. Amongst other 

makes fresh ° 

laws against clauscs it was cnactcd that " any peer of the 
realm or member of the House of Commons 
moving to alter or change the descent of the Crown, 
should be adjudged guilty of high treason, and should 
suffer accordingly." 

Section IV. — Trials of Oates, Dangerfield and 
Richard Baxter. 

James could not forget how his honor, his religion, 
and even his life had been attacked in past years by the 
^ . , ^ false witnesses in the so-called Popish Plots. 

1 rial of "^ 

Titus Oates. Many of them were dead or had retired into 
obscurity, but two, Oates and Dangerfield, were still en- 
joying the proceeds of their false swearing. Oates was 
tried on a charge of perjury, and was found guilty. 
Jeffreys, the lord chief justice, presided at the trial. The 
sentence passed was a barbarous one, taking even into 
consideration the enormity of the crime which Oates had 
committed. He was condemned to be degraded from 
his orders, to be fined heavily, to be imprisoned for life, to 
be set in the pillory both in the Palace Yard and in front 
of the Royal Exchange, to be flogged by the common 
hangman from Aldgate to Newgate on one day, and on 
the next from Newgate to Tyburn, and if he survived 
these floggings, to be set in the pillory four times each 
year as long as he lived. Strange to say, although the 
floggings were carried out with the utmost rigor, Oates 



I 



1685. Trials of Oates, Dangerfield and Baxter. 8 7 

did survive them and lived to see not only his sentence 
set aside but his pension restored to him. 

Dangerfield was tried for libel, was convicted, and was 
also sentenced to be whipped from Aldgate to Newgate, 
and from Newgate to Tyburn, But in his 
case the result was more tragic than in that X"^' °^^ , , 

* Dangerfield 

of Oates. Half dead from the flogging, he and of 
was jeered at by a hot-headed Tory lawyer 
named Francis. Dangerfield with the little strength left 
him spat in Francis' face, on which the latter struck him 
on the head with a walking stick, and with such violence 
that he died in a few hours. Francis was put on his 
trial for the murder, was found guilty, and was sentenced 
to death. Great efforts were made to obtain Francis' 
pardon, but without avail, and the sentence was carried 
into effect. King James doubtless wished, by this re- 
fusal to grant a pardon, to gain a character for impar- 
tiality. 

Yet another trial must be mentioned, as tending to 
show that James and the court party intended to treat 
English dissenters as Scotch covenanters 

1 • 1 T^- 1 1 -r. t Trial of 

were bemg treated. Richard Baxter, the Richard 
nonconformist divine, had lived to the age 
of seventy respected by all parties, churchmen as well 
as puritans. He had even been offered a bishopric by 
Charles 11. In a Commentary on the New Testament 
which he had published were certain reflections on the 
justice of the penal statutes against dissenters. Upon 
this he was indicted for libel. Jeffreys again presided, 
and the trial is remarkable for the brutal insolence dis- 
played by him. Baxter's counsel were insulted, Baxter 
himself was blustered at and abused, and on arguing, in 
the course of his defence, that there was no evidence to 
go before the jury on which they could convict, was 



88 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. 

stopped by Jeffrey's exclaiming, " Don't trouble yourself 
about that." It is needless to add he was convicted, was 
sentenced to a heavy fine, and, being unable to pay the 
fine, was kept in prison for eighteen months. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

REBELLIONS OF ARGYLE AND MONMOUTH. 

Section I. — Refugees in Holland. 

There were gathered together in Holland a large num- 
ber of refugees who had fled from England and Scotland 
to avoid the state prosecutions of the dominant party. 
Among them were representatives of various political 
parties, and of various social ranks. There were zeal- 
ous Presbyterians, flying from the country 
Refugees i^ which prelacy was sanctioned by law ; 

areof there were plotting political intriguers, to 

various ^ . o » 

political whom every fresh intrigue afforded means 

ar ics. ^^^ replenishing their scanty purses ; there 

were large-hearted philosophers, who sought a land in 
which they might study and print without fear of being 
tried for libel. 

Among all these, two noblemen stood forth, pre-emi- 
nent from their high rank — the Duke of Monmouth and 
the Earl of Argyle. 

Monmouth was treated kindly by William of Orange, 

and was received by him at his court. But William had 

also hopes that his father-in-law, James, 

wnfiam"of°^ would not sacrifice the interests of Europe 

^ri"§^ and of England to the French alliance ; and 

with the * ' 

Duke of by means of his ambassador at the English 

Monmouth. , , . n • -l • 

court he was domg ail m nis power to 
thwart the schemes of Lewis XIV. He therefore en- 



1685. Refugees in Holland. 89 

deavored to dissuade Monmouth from taking part in, or 
encouraging, any expedition against James II. To re- 
move him from the temptation of his English friends in 
exile or at home, William offered, if he would join the 
emperor, who was then warring with the Turks, to equip 
and maintain both himself and relinue as became an 
EngUsh prince of the blood. Monmouth, however, would 
not accept this offer. He was entangled in a discredit- 
able love-affair ; for an English noble lady had thrown 
her fortune and reputation at his feet, and had inflamed 
his mind with the hope of becoming king of England. 

The Earl of Argyle, smarting under his unjust sentence 
and detesting James as his personal enemy, had kept up 
constant communication with the whig noblemen in Scot- 
land. From what he learnt, he thought the time had 
arrived for dispersing the Scotch parliament and abolish- 
ing episcopacy in Scotland. He was assured ^ , . 

1 1 1 • 1 1 Relations of 

also that his clan, the Campbells, could be Monmouth 
trusted to a man. It does not appear that ^^^ ^^^ ^' 
Argyle had any idea of proclaiming Monmouth as king, 
for there seems to have been no sympathy between the 
two. It was evident, however, that some co-operation, 
and apparent common purpose would conduce to the 
success of both, and therefore consultations were held. 
The result of these consultations was that two distinct ex- 
peditions were determined on ; one under Argyle to land 
in Scotland, the other under Monmouth in England ; 
and it was further agreed that Argyle's expedition should 
be first fitted out. 

But before either expedition could be made ready, it 
was necessary to take more of the refugees into council, 
and to unfold the plans of the leaders to them. „ 

*■ . Prepara- 

It was hoped that all would be found united tions for the 
and eager for action. But among men of "^^^ 



9© The Fall of the Stuarts J ^'c. a.d. 

such different aims and of such various reputations, union 
could be looked for only if some whom all alike respected 
took the lead. Neither Monmouth nor Argyle was such. 
Monmouth was too vain and frivolous, Argyle too proud 
and distant, to kindle enthusiasm in their followers. A 
curious plan therefore was adopted from the practice 
of the Dutch. The Dutch were in the habit of appoint- 
ing one or more civil commissioners to accompany every 
general in command of an army. The commissioners 
had the power of controlling the general's operations, 
unless these were entirely in accordance with a scheme 
for the campaign which had been previously agreed on. 
William had himself, as had also many other Dutch 
generals, been sadly hampered by this burgher-device. 
Following then the Dutch precedent, two commissioners 
were sent with each expedition — with that of Argyle, two 
Englishmen, Rumbold and Ayliffe, both implicated in 
the Rye House Plot ; with that of Monmouth, two Scotch- 
men, Fletcher of Saltoun and Fergusson. 

Section \\.— Argyle' s Expedition. 

On May 23, 1685, King James in a speech to the par- 
liament, announced that Argyle had landed in Scotland. 

The earl had sailed with three ships from 
fbr¥cotlTnd Holland on May 2, and, after touching at the 

Orkneys, had sailed down the west coast of 
Scotland, and had landed at Campbelltown, on the east 
side of the peninsula of Cantyre. 

Yet live there still who can remember well, 
How, when a mountain chief his bugle blew, 
Both field and forest, dingle, cliff and dell, 
And solitary heath, the signal knew ; 
And fast the faithful clan around him drew, 



1 685. 



Argyle's Expedition. 



91 



What time the warning note was keenly wound, 
What time aloft their kindred banner flew, 
While clamorous war-pipes yelled the gathering sound, 
And while the Fiery Cross glanced like a meteor round. 

And from Tarbet the fiery cross was sent forth to sum- 
mon thither all the Campbells to join the standard of 
the great earl. To the number of about ^rgyle lands. 
2,000 the clansmen assembled, but amongst 



\^^ 




AKGYLE'S CAMPAIGN^ 



Russell i- Struther»,N.T, 



them no noblemen or gentlemen of mark. From the 
neighboring western Lowlands came no supporters, as 
Argyle had hoped, for they dreaded to bring again upon 



92 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.Dc 

themselves the visits of Claverhouse's soldiers. 
Meets with but ^nd in the councils of the little army dis- 

uttle support. •' 

sensions soon arose, as was to be expected, 
from the presence of the commissioners, Rumbold and 
Ayliffe. Contrary to his own better judgment, Argyle 
marched southwards into the Lowlands ; but meeting 
there with but small encouragement, he determined to 
retrace his steps. The few Cameronians who had joined 
the rebels refused, however, to march farther north than 
Inverary. Argyle was now in perplexity, and to add to 
his trouble, intelligence was brought him that his stores, 
which he had landed and placed for security in a castle 
at the mouth of Loch Riddan, and near which for greater 
protection he had moored his three ships, had been cap- 
tured, and that his ships had been burnt. Supplies failed 
him, and the clansmen began to disband. 

No other course seemed open to Argyle but again to 
turn southwards, and to make an unexpected attempt on 
J- , Glasgow in the hopes that if he succeeded 

towards he should awaken the enthusiasm of the 

Lowlanders. With reduced numbers, the 
army marched into Dumbartonshire, and in the rugged 
country between Loch Long and Loch Lomond, found 
their progress constantly harassed by the royal troops 
who were gathering round them. Argyle proposed to 
attack the royal forces, for they were for the most part but 
newly raised militia; but he was met by objections from 
the commissioners, who had seen soldiers in scarlet uni- 
form among them. It was therefore hastily determined 
to endeavor, under the cover of night, to slip through 
the hostile lines, and to make for Glasgow with all 
speed. 

Movements of troops by night are at all times, and 
under any circumstances, hazardous, but if the troops 



1 685- Argyle' s Expedition. 93 

are irresrular, such as the Highlanders were, 

^ . ..*='. Argyle's 

such operations are, m ninety-nine cases out troops 
of a hundred fatal. So it was with Argyle's isperse. 

army. The watch-fires were left burning to deceive the 
enemy, and the night march began. The guides lost 
their way in the darkness, and led the troops into some 
boggy ground. Suddenly a report arose that they were 
betrayed. They fled in all directions ; some fell into the 
hands of the enemy, others struggled back into Argyle- 
shire and the islands, to carry thither the news of the 
defeat of their great chief. When morning broke, it was 
found that but 500 had kept together. Nothing was now 
left but to disperse as best they could. On 
June 17, Argyle, disguised as a carter, was ca^ptured 
taken prisoner and led to Edinburgh. andexe- 

■^ " cuted on 

Thither also Rumbold, one of the com- his former 

scntciicc 

missioners, who was wounded, was taken. 
Ayliffe, the other, was captured and sent to England. 
No trial awaited the Earl of Argyle. His former sen- 
tence of death for leasing-making was still unrevoked. 
On this sentence it was determined to execute him at 
once. Argyle's fortitude never forsook him, for he be- 
lieved in the justice of his cause, and he thought that for 
his country and religion he was bound to take up arms. 
So he calmly met his end. 

Rumbold and Ayliffe were also executed, the latter in 
England, his head being placed on Temple Bar. 

The usual atrocities followed the defeat of the rebel- 
lion. The country for miles around Inverary was laid 
waste. Hundreds of Campbells were trans- „ . , 

, . , Punish- 

ported to the plantations (that is, to work ments in- 

as slaves in the West Indies), the men with the clan 

the loss of one ear, the women scarred and Campbell, 

branded. The boats and fishing-nets of the islanders 



94 



The Fall of the Stuarts ^ dr'e. 



A.D. 




1685. Monmouth' s Expedition. 95 

were destroyed. Many suspected persons had at the 
outbreak of the rebeUion been confined in the castle of 
Dunnottar, on the east coast of Scotland. Crowded into 
one dungeon, many of them died. The survivors were 
transported. 

James and his advisers hoped and thought that now, 
at all events, Scotland was quieted. 

Section III. — Momnouth' s Expeditio7t. 

It was early in the month of June that Monmouth with 
his expedition left the coast of Holland. At the request 
of the English ambassador, William sent an 

° Monmouth s 

order to the authorities at Amsterdam to de- expedition, 

tain the ships. But the board at Amster- wiiUamin- 

dam made excuses. They said the vessels attemSs w 

were chartered for the Canaries, and before detain it, 

. sets sail. 

they could venture to detain them they must 
have formal proof that their intended destination was 
England. Monmouth determined to put to sea before 
further steps could be taken. The expedition consisted 
of three vessels, conveying Monmouth, Lord Grey, 
and only 80 followers, but with arms and equipments 
for a small army. 

William, however, as a proof of his anxiety to assist 
King James, sent back to London, with all speed, three 
Scotch regiments in his service. 

Escaping the English cruisers in the Channel, Mon- 
mouth, after a stormy voyage, arrived on June 11, ofif 
Lyme, in Dorsetshire, and landed. A few 

\ , , Monmouth 

militia were in the town. These ran away, lands in 
and the townspeople welcomed him with shire, " 
shouts of " A Monmouth ! a Monmouth ! " J"""^ "• 
His standard was set up in the market-place, and a pro- 
clamation, of which Fergusson, the commissioner, was 



96 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. A,b. 

said to be the author, was put forth. It recited various 
charges against James ; that he was endeavoring to sub- 
vert both the Protestant rehgion and the English consti- 
tution ; that he had caused London to be burnt in 1666 ; 
that he had been the originator of the Popish plot dis- 
closed by Oates ; that he had assassinated the Earl of 
Essex, and had poisoned the late king. The proclama- 
tion asserted also that Monmouth was the legitimate son 
of Charles 11. , and therefore rightful heir to the crown of 
England. 

The common people flocked to Monmouth's standard. 

The day after the landing, 1,500 foot and a few horsemen 

had joined him. The summer of 1684 had 

Many "^ 

people join been a very dry one; it had been followed 
onmout . ^^ ^ winter so severe that for months all agri- 
culture had been stopped, and this hard winter had been 
again succeeded by a long drought. Great distress, 
therefore, existed, and particularly in the West of Eng- 
land. Popular distress often produces popular disaffec- 
tion. The government of James was credited with much 
of the scarcity caused by the inclemency of the seasons. 
Monmouth's advent was therefore hailed with delight by 
the ignorant peasantry, and Dorsetshire, Devonshire, 
and Somersetshire supplied recruits for his forces. 

A few half-trained militia were the only troops to op- 
pose Monmouth. Bridport was garrisoned by 300 of 
these. Monmouth detached Lord Grey 
Skirmish of from Lyme to attack Bridport. He placed 
Lord Grey. ^^^^^ ^.^ Orders about 400 rebel foot 

and all his small body of horse. The militia marched 
out of Bridport to meet Grey. An indecisive engage- 
ment took place. The militia first wavered and then 
stood firm ; their firmness dismayed Grey's cavalry ; these 
took flight, and did not draw bridle until, accompanied 



1685. Monmouth^ s Expedition. 97 

by Lord Grey, they had reached Lyme. The rebel foot, 
although deserted by the cavalry, withdrew in good order. 
The militia of Devonshire, under the command of the 
Duke of Albemarle, lord lieutenant of the county, were 
assembled at Exeter for their annual train- ^ 

_. • 1 • ir 11 1 r Devonshire 

ing. Puttmg himself at the head of 4,000 militia 
of these, Albemarle marched to meet the in- mm- """ 
surgents. Coming up with their advanced worthy, 
guard at Axminster, his men proved so untrustworthy 
that, although he was in much greater force, he feared 
an engagement, and retreated to Exeter. Monmouth 
declined to follow Albemarle, and continued his march 
to Taunton, at which town he arrived on June 18. 

Monmouth's entry into Taunton was a triumphant 
one. The church bells rang out ; the young girls of the 
town strewed flowers before him ; standards, Monmouth 
embroidered with the royal arms, were pre- ^^ Taunton, 
sented to him. Intoxicated with this reception, Mon- 
mouth caused himself to be proclaimed king. Although 
none but the lower orders had as yet joined him, the 
Whig nobility and gentry of the western counties had 
looked on his expedition with no unfriendly eyes, and 
were doubtful as to the course which they should them- 
selves adopt. But by allowing himself to be proclaimed 
king, Monmouth disclosed his intentions, and at once 
caused the waverers to draw back. The heir to the 
throne of James was as yet his eldest daughter, Mary, mar- 
ried to the great statesman of Europe, who alone held 
his own against the King of France. Nor were the 
Whigs disposed to substitute for him the handsome, 
weak, licentious Monmouth. Henceforth the failure of 
Monmouth's expedition was but a question of time. 

On the news reaching London of Monmouth's having 
landed in Dorsetshire, the parliament was hastily aa- 

H 



9^ The Fall of the Stuarts, d:'c. a.d. 

. journed until the autumn. The militia of 

News oi 

Monmouth's Wiltshire was called out under the Earl of 
b^rought to Pembroke, and that of Gloucestershire under 
London. ^-^g Duke of Beaufort. The Sussex militia, 

under Lord Lumley, marched westward. Thither also 
were dispatched all the troops in London, except the 
three Scotch regiments, which, having been sent 
back to James by William, were retained for the defence 
of the capital. The regular troops under the command 
of Lord Feversham numbered 2,500 men, and about 
three days' march in advance of them was sent the regi- 
ment of the Blues under Lord Churchill. 

Monmouth marched from Taunton to Bridgewater with 

6,000 men, 1,000 being cavalry; but these latter were 

ill-disciplined, and their horses not being trained to stand 

fire, were more dangerous to their friends 

Monmouth s ^ 

marchings than to their foes. From Bridgewater he 
counter- proceeded to Glastonbury, thence to Wells, 

marchings. ^^^ f^.^^^ -^^jlg j^g Tiva.di^ for Bristol, which 

town was supposed to favor his cause. But Bristol was 
occupied by Beaufort and his militia, and was thought 
too strong to be attacked. Monmouth now retreated in 
the direction of Bath, Churchill hanging on to his rear 
and flanks, and cutting off his stragglers. The garrison 
of Bath was too strong to be taken by a coup-de-main, 
and Feversham with his army was close to the city. 
Monmouth therefore turned southwards to Frome, re- 
pulsing on his way an attack made by the advanced 
guard of the royal troops. From Frome he returned to 
Wells, and thence again to Bridgewater, his forces being 
reduced in numbers by the long marches and bad 
weather. The main body of Feversham's army had 
now reached Sedgemoor, about three miles from Bridge- 
water, where they encamped. 



1685. MonmoutK s Expeditio7t. 99 

Sedgemoor is a morass, intersected by deep and broad 
ditches called rhines, and Feversham's encampment was 
covered in front by one of these, called the ^ , 

. -^ Battle of 

Old Bussex rhine. Monmouth took the Sedgemoor, 
resolution of attacking the royal army in its 
encampment, and of doing so by a surprise by night. 
As has been said before, irregular troops cannot be 
trusted to carry out movements such as night attacks, 
which require the utmost discipline and order. Mon- 
mouth's guides brought him to the brink of the rhine, 
fronting Feversham's encampment. This was too deep 
to be crossed. The insurgents halted in doubt. Shots 
were fired across the rhine, and these roused Fever- 
sham's troops. Making a detour, they fell on Monmouth's 
army. Lord Grey and his horse were the first of the in- 
surgents to give way. The stout peasants and miners of 
the west country fought with desperation. The wagons 
filled with ammunition had been cut off by the Blues. 
Grey reported that his cavalry had fled, so Monmouth 
made up his mind that all was lost. In the early dawn 
he, with Lord Grey and two others, rode off as fast as 
they could towards the New Forest. Deserted by their 
leaders the insurgents endeavored to fly ; but Colonel 
Kirke, at the head of his Tangier troops, followed them 
in close pursuit. As the regulars came up with the 
stragglers, they put them to death, often under circum- 
stances of the greatest barbarity. The villages round 
were searched, and all persons found sheltering fugitives 
were arrested. On the flag carried by Kirke's soldiers 
was a paschal lamb, a badge which had been conferred 
on them when fighting- against the Mahomedans. The 
peasantry of the West in irony called them " Kirke's 
lambs." The battle of Sedgemoor, if battle it can be 
called, was the last which was fought on English soil. 



TOO 



The Fall of the Stuarts ^ &*c. 



A.D. 




1685. The Bloody Assize. loi 

Monmouth and Grey, when their horses were worn 
out, proceeded on foot in the disguise of countrymen. 
On Tuly 7, they separated, and Grey was 

; -r, • 1 ^, , Monmouth 

soon taken near Rmgwood. The next day and Grey 
Monmouth also was found, concealed in a capture . 
ditch, and half dead from want of food. Both prisoners 
were at once dispatched to London : Monmouth exhibit- 
ing both fear and depression. Grey appearing more calm 
and collected than on the field of battle. 

On being taken into the presence of the king, Mon- 
mouth made the most degrading appeals that his life 
miyht be spared ; but Tames was inexorable. 

o • ^ r ^ ^^ i MonmoUth 

beemg therefore that all was over, he re- executed. 
covered his equanimity, and at his execu- "^^^ 
lion behaved with fortitude. He was brought to the 
scaffold July 15. A serious tumult had nearly arisen at 
the last, for the executioner blundered at his work, and 
the spectators yelled with fury. With the mob Mon- 
mouth had always been popular, and for years his 
memory was reverenced by them as that of a Protest- 
ant hero and martyr. 

Lord Grey, who was wealthy, was allowed to ransom 
his life by the payment of 40.000/0, and in the succeeding 
reign, as Earl of Tankerville, he again took an active 
part in politics. 

Section IV. — The Bloody Assize. 

James, ever revengeful, thought the proceedings of 
Kirke and his lambs too lenient. He therefore dis- 
patched Jeffreys on a special commission, 
to try all those who were implicated, either ^^^\^7^ ^" 

' ^ the West. 

as rebels or as having given shelter to 

rebels. This assize, known as the "Bloody Assize," 

was by James called Jeffreys' campaign. The result of 



I02 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. 

the trials was that about 300 persons were executed, 
nearly 1,000 more transported to Virginia and the West 
Indies, and many besides were whipped and fined. A 
bribe of 2,000/. was paid to the maids of honor of the 
queen, in order to obtain the pardon of the young girls 
of Taunton who had presented Monmouth with a stan- 
dard. 

But no trial was conducted with greater harshness, in 
none did the brutal coarseness of Jeffreys show itself 
less undisguised, no sentence, and conse- 
cution ofLady qucnt execution has excited so great indig- 
Alice Lisle. nation, as that of Lady Alice Lisle. Hers 
was the first trial, and she was the first victim. The 
aged widow of John Lisle, one of the judges who had 
presided at the trial of Charles L, she had long lived a 
retired life in the neighborhood of Winchester. She was 
now accused of harboring fugitives from Sedgemoor. 
The jury hesitated to find her guilty, but after being 
bullied and browbeaten by Jeffreys, they gave a reluc- 
tant verdict. The sentence passed by Jeffreys was that 
she should be burned alive. With the greatest difficulty 
her friends (amongst whom were Lord Feversham, the 
victor at Sedgemoor, and Lord Clarendon, the king's 
brother-in-law), obtained the commutation of the sen- 
tence. She was to be beheaded, and not burned. Five 
days after the trial, the sentence was carried into effect 
at Winchester. 



1685. Second Session of Parliament. 103 

CHAPTER IX. 

FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC POLICY. 

Section I. — Second Session of Parliament in 168^. 

The parliament, which had been hastily adjourned on 
the news of Monmouth's landing in Dor- 

A. D. 1685. 

setshire, was ordered to reassemble on No- 
vember 9. As it had already proved so reassembles 
obedient to his wishes, the king hoped to November 9. 
find it in a tractable mood. 

But two events had in the interval occurred, which ma- 
terially affected the views of those Tory members of par- 
liament who were not bhnd adherents of the court, and 
had not been corrupted by French gold. The first of 
these events was the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. 
The Court endeavored to prevent the intelligence of the 
edict having been revoked from spreading in England. 
The Gazettes, published twice weekly, did not mention 
what was passing in France. It was only 
by private letters, and by the arrival of nu- Temper of 

•' '^ •' parliament. 

merous French refugees on the shores of 
England, that the news was promulgated. Evelyn, in 
his diary, remarks, " Whence this silence I list not to 
conjecture, but it appear' d very extraordinary in a Pro- 
testant countrie, that we should know nothing of what 
Protestants suffer'd." The second event 

was the dismissal of Lord Halifax from his Habfax dis- 
missed, 
office of president of the council. James 

found Halifax, although a " Trimmer," of not sufficient- 
ly facile principles. He had in his place in the council, 
told the king that he could not sanction by his vote the 



I04 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c. A.D. 

repeal of either the Test Act or the Habeas Corpus Act. 
On the repeal of these obnoxious statutes James had 
fixed his heart, and although Halifax had been the chief 
agent in setting aside the Exclusion Bill, and should for 
this reason have earned the gratitude of James, he was 
abruptly dismissed and his place given to Lord Sunder- 
land. 

Halifax had, with more consistency than was usually 

shown by him, always strenuously opposed the policy of 

Lewis XIV. William of Orange therefore 

Effect of , . , • J. • 1 , , 

Halifax's leamt from his dismissal, that the promises 

William of of his father-in -law, that England should not 
Orange. support the ambitious schemes of the French 

kinsr. were not to be relied on. The Stadtholder conse- 
quently took active measures to devise some coalition 
by which independently, and in spite of James, these 
schemes might be counteracted. 

In his speech on the meeting of parliament, James 
asked for a " supply " to enable him to keep in his service 
the regular troops now under arms, as the experience 
of the militia in the late troubles proved that they 
could not be depended on. He also added 
poS?tr°' that as some of the officers of the army 
polish the could not comply with the requirements of 
the Test Act, he haped that this act might be 
repealed. Now the Test Act, which had been passed in 
1673, compelled all persons holding any office or com- 
mission under the Crown to take the sacrament accord- 
ing to the order of the English Church, and to sign a 
declaration against the Romish doctrine of transubstan- 
tiation. It was owing to the passing of this Act that 
James himself had, in days gone by, been obliged to 
resign the office of lord high admiral. The Act, more- 
over, was looked on not only by the Whigs, but also by 



1 686. Foreign Policy ofJai?ies. 105 

all moderate Tories and churchmen, as the great safe- 
guard against the encroachments of the Romish 
Church. 

The Commons at once acceded to one of the king's 
requests, and were prepared to grant 700,000/. as a 
supply for the troops. This proved them to be in a 
compliant mood, for they conceded the principle of a 
standing army, which was so generally repugnant to 
English statesmen and patriots. But the repeal of the 
Test Act, which would enable Popish officers to be in 
command of the newly-formed army, was a measure 
which the court, with all its influence could not carry. 
The House was subservient to James, but not his slavish 
tool. In a division, the court party was beaten by a 
majority of one (183 to 182). Halifax's influence was 
strong enough to prevent the Lords placing themselves 
in opposition to the Commons. 

James therefore, enraged and bitterly disappointed, 
resolved to prorogue parliament at once. He did not 
even wait until the 700,000/. was formally voted, but 
prorogued the Houses on November 27. 

The same parliamment never again met for the des- 
patch of business. It was formally prorogued twice in 
1686, and finally dissolved in July, 1687. 

Section II. — Foreign Policy of James; 1686. League 
of Augsburg. 

The Elector Palatine, brother of the Duchess of Or- 
leans, had died without issue in 1685. His nearest male 
relative had succeeded. The duchess claimed certain 
lands as hers, by right of succession to her brother. At 
her marriage with the Duke of Orleans, she 
had renounced all claims on the Palatinate. 



io6 The Fall of the Stuarts, d^c. a.d. 

ScE?ti-" Lewis, following out his policy of sowing 
nate fostered dissension in the empire, supported the 

by Lewis. 

claims of the duchess. The elector Palatme 
appealed to the Emperor to protect him. 

William of Orange saw a good opportunity of re- 
straining Lewis. He arranged a league of all the princes 
League of of the empire, consisting of the Emperor, the 
Augsburg. Kings of Spain and Sweden, as holders of 

principalities in the empire, the Electors of Bavaria and 
Saxony, and all the inferior princes. The object of the 
league, called the league of Augsburg, was to maintain 
the provisions of the Treaty of Nimwegen ; and to en- 
force the observance of the treaty, an army of 60,000 men 
was to be raised, and the necessary funds supplied, by 
the princes who subscribed to the league. The league 
was to continue in force for three years. William was not 
himself a party to the actual league, since he was not a 
prince of the empire, but he was the ruling agent in its 
formation. 

During all the intrigues and counter-intrigues on the 
Continent, Lewis and his able representative Barillon 

were striving to persuade James to enter into 
favors a formal alliance with France. On the 

^^^^' other hand, William of Orange, the Emperor 

and the Pope were endeavoring to keep James from com- 
mitting himself with Lewis. The Pope (Innocent XL), 
already vexed with Lewis' pretensions, was actuated in 
this step by his desire not only to prevent the aggrandize- 
ment of Lewis, but also to arrest the increasing influence 
exercised over James by the Jesuits, an order to the prin- 
ciples of which he was much opposed. The proceedings 
of James were evidently of the greatest interest, for his 
open e.spousal of Lewis' policy might turn the scale in 
the balance of power. It was soon apparent to whose 



I 



1 686. Home Policy of James. 107 

side his inclinations leaned. The sovereign who had re- 
voked the Edict of Nantes was one congenial to James. 

Sunderland was, from his long residence in France, 
well known to Lewis. Bribed by an annual pension 
of 6,000/. he consented to advocate Lewis' 
measures in the council ; and he agreed, Sunderland 
moreover, secretly to embrace the Romish by Lewis, 
faith. 

The confessor of James, the Jesuit Father Petre, per- 
suaded him to send an embassy to the Pope, in order to 
try and detach his Holiness from any alii- ^ 

•' ^ James sends an 

ance with the Emperor. On account, how- embassy to the 
ever, of the pope's known antipathy to the ^ ' 
Jesuits, the ambassador selected, Lord Castlemaine, was 
instructed not to enter into any engagements with the 
Papal See without the consent both of the General of the 
Order of Jesuits and of the French ambassador at 
Rome. 

James thus openly showed his predilection for the 
French alliance, and whilst he looked coldly on his 
ministers, Rochester and Clarendon, who remained 
staunch to the English Church, he made Sunderland, 
the convert, his confidential adviser. 

Section III. — Home Policy of fames ; 1686. 

James next showed that he was bent on overstepping 
the limits placed by the constitution on the power of the 
Crown. He claimed the dispensing power 

^ ° "^ James en- 

Df the sovereign ; he obtained from a bench croach- 
3f judges a verdict allowing this claim ; he theconsti- 
sstablished a new ecclesiastical commission ; tution. 
md in order to overawe the capital he encamped his 
regular troops on Hounslow Heath. 
There were certain cases in which lawyers had held 



io8 The Fall of the Stuarts , ^c. a.d. 

that the Crown had power to grant dispensation from 
complying with the terms of statutes. But these were 
only private cases involving no public interests, and the 
dispensations were such as are granted by 
daTms the bishops whcn they excuse a parish incum- 
power^'"^ bent from residence, and were always dis- 
pensations from statutes a too rigid inter- 
pretation of which might cause a private injury. But no 
lawyer had ever held that the Crown had power to dis- 
pense with the conditions required by the common law 
of the land. James, however, claimed as his prerogative 
that he might practically set aside the Test Act by grant- 
ing a dispensation from the prohibitions and penalties 
laid down by it. 

In order to try the power of the Crown an indictment 
was laid against Sir Edward Hales, a Papist, who had 
Case of Sir been appointed by the king colonel of a 
Hale^'^^ regiment and governor of Dover castle, and 

had not, previously to entering on the duties 
of these offices, qualified according to the terms of the 
Test Act. The case was heard before the Court of King's 
Bench, twelve judges being present. The court was pre- 
sided over by the new chief justice, Herbert; Jeffreys 
having been made lord chancellor. On June 2i| 1686, 
James' judgment was delivered in favor of the ac- 

fowed^b" cused. Eleven out of the twelve judges 

the King's agreed that the king had power by his pre- 

Bench. . ,. 

rogative to dispense with penal laws, and for 
reasons of which he was sole judge ; and that this pre- 
rogative of the king could not be restrained by statutes. 
The effect of this judgment was to declare the sovereign 
absolute, and uncontrolled by laws made by parliament. 
This decision was another proof to Englishmen that 
their constitutional liberties were in danger of being 



1 686, Hotne Policy of James. 109 

again trodden under foot by a Stuart, and caused a 
strong feeling to arise in favor of the next heir, Mary 
and her husband, Wilham of Orange. Lewis, on the 
other hand, congratulated James that he 
would now be able to rule as befitted a Petreand 
monarch. Taking advantage of the judg- Catholic 
ment in his favor, Tames created several p^.^''^ ^^^^ 

' •' privy coun- 

Roman Catholic peers, and his confessor, cillors. 
Father Petre, privy councillors. 

A collection had been authorized to be made in the 
churches, for the purpose of relieving the refugees whom 
the tyranny of Lewis XIV. had thrown on 
the Enghsh shores. But James had at the forms^an ec- 
same time ordered the clergy to desist from ciesiastical 

°-' _ commission 

preaching on controversial subjects, and to keep 
from discussing in their pulpits the conduct the clergy, 
and character of the French king. He re- 
quired the several bishops to see this order carried out. 
The dean of Norwich, who was also rector of St. Giles, 
London, disobeyed the order. For this disobedience 
the bishop of London (Compton) was requested to sus- 
pend him from his clerical duties and emoluments. The 
bishop declined to punish the dean more severely than 
by withdrawing for a few months his license to preach. 
In order to show the bishops and the clergy that he was 
not to be trifled with, James forthwith established a new 
ecclesiastical commission. This proceeding was illegal 
on the king's part. The ecclesiastical commission court 
of Queen Elizabeth had been long abolished by act of 
parliament, and the same act had provided that nu new 
court of like powers should be constituted. In spite of 
this act, James issued a new commission in the very 
words which had created the original court. 

The court was composed of the archbishop of Canter- 



no The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c, a.d^ 

bury (who never took his seat), the bishops of Durham 
^, and Rochester, the Lords Sunderland and 

J. he new 

commission Rochester, Jeffreys, the lord chancellor, and 
the^Bishop Herbert, the lord chief justice. Three of 
of London. these might form a quorum, but it was pro- 
vided that the chancellor should be always one of the 
quorum. Immediately on its creation, the court sum- 
moned before it the bishop of London, and after delibe- 
rations extending over several days, suspended him from 
his office. 

The army encamped on Hounslow Heath consisted 

of nearly 13,000 men. It was commanded by Lords 

Feversham and Dumbarton, both of whom 

James ... 

visits his were Papists. Hither James continually 

^'^^^' repaired, treating both officers and men with 

studied good-will. '„ 

Samuel Johnson, a clergyman of the Church of 
England, was in prison for an alleged libel on James, 

when Duke of York, in a book called 
Johnson is "Julian, the Apostate." From his prison 
Httempring° ^^ wrote an address to the Protestant sol- 
'^°id'^e''^ ^^ diers encamped at Hounslow, adjuring 

them not to allow themselves to be tools 
in the hands of a tyrant bent on persecuting and ex- 
terminating the Protestant faith. Johnson was again 
placed on his trial for this, and sentenced to lose his 
gown, to be placed in the pillory, and to be whipped 
through London. 

To add to the distrust excited by Roman Catholics 
sitting at the privy council, various orders of Roman 

Catholics were permitted to open schools in 
Spread of London, and to found monasteries. Bene- 

Roman ' 

Catholicism. dictines were located in Saint James', the 
Jesuits in the Savoy, the Franciscans in Lin- 



1 686. Home Policy of James. iii 

coin's Inn Fields, the Carmelites in the City. Schools 
were opened by the Jesuits, and owing to the high repu- 
tation of that order for education, attracted many 
scholars. Pamphlets were also printed, and distributed 
widely, in defence of Romanism. 

James endeavored to propitiate the nonconformists 
also by allowing them equal privileges with the Roman- 
ists. Formal declarations of liberty of con- 
science were pubhshed both in England ^^Pi^^^J'^gjfJ'g^ 
and in Scotland. No restraint was to be 
placed on any sect in the exercise of its religious ser- 
vices. But this affectation of liberality on the part of 
James deceived few. The Anabaptists, and some of 
the more extreme sects, insignificant, in point of num- 
bers and influence, alone thanked the king, and took 
advantage of the indulgence. 

The great battle between Protestantism and Roman- 
ism, still undecided on the Continent, had, at the begin- 
ning and middle of the seventeenth cen- ^, 

® The contest 

tury, merged in England into the contest of between Pro- 

■r- . AT- 11 testantism 

Episcopacy or Anglicanism, supported by and Roman- 
the Crown, against nonconformity and lib- '^™' 
erty of conscience. But at the close of the century it 
had in England again reverted to the old form of 
struggle. Now the fight was between Protestantism, 
championed by the Church of England, and Papacy, 
protected by the King. 

The Crown had secured for itself the support of the 
bench, and of all the lawyers who aspired to a seat on 
the bench. The lawyers of the Temple ^ , 

^ Subservien- 

made themselves indeed notorious for their cy of the 
sycophancy by sending an address to the ^^yers. 
king, thanking him for the declaration of indulgence, 
and concluding by stating their determination to defend. 



112 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. 

if need were, with their Uves and fortunes, the divine 
maxim, "a Deo rex, a rege lex" (the king is made by 
God, and the law by the king.") 

Section IV. — Attack of fames on the Universities. 

James, feeling sure of the support of his law officers, 
aimed a blow at the universities, and through them at 
the Established Church, which raised a ferment through- 
out his kingdom never allayed during the remainder of 
his reign. The universities had never, in the darkest 
hour of the Stuarts, flinched from their loy- 
feit * aga'inst ^^ty to the throne ; and as a reward for their 
sympaihy"'^ constancy, they were now attacked. No 
for the uni- wouder, then, that the country squires and 

versities. , _, . . 

country rectors, the Tory supporters of the 
doctrine of the divine right of kings, felt that no sacri- 
fices on their part would insure their safety from the 
spoiler, the encroaching Romish Church, since the uni- 
versities, whose teaching and whose loyalty they had 
followed, were not spared. At Cambridge a small band 
of philosophical students resided, who had long incul- 
cated the doctrine of religious liberty, and had endea- 
vored to show that this liberty existed in, and was best 
fostered by, an Established Church. They were held in 
respect by the Whigs and by moderate nonconformists, 
but they now learnt that their own doctrine might be 
perverted into one which was injurious to the liberties of 
their Alma Mater. 

The rights of the Established Church and of the uni- 
versities were encroached on by James in the following 
instances. The bishopric of Oxford was 
made given to Dr. Parker, who, although a mar- 

Oxford°^ ried man and nominally a Protestant, had 



1687. Attack on the Universities. 113 

nevertheless declared that he held absolutely all the doc- 
trines of the Romish Church. 

In December, 1686, the deanery of Christ-church, Ox- 
ford, became vacant. Massey, a Romanist, was in- 
stalled as dean by the king's orders. James Dr. Massey 
informed the papal nuncio that what he had ^^christ" 
done at Oxford he would also do at Cam- church, 
bridge. 

In February 1687 a degree was demanded from the 
University of Cambridge for a certain Francis, a Bene- 
dictine monk. The vice-chancellor, Dr. Pechell, master 
of Magdalen College, declined to accede to this demand 
unless Francis consented to take the oaths required by 
the university. Francis refused, and Dr. 

. . . A. D. 1687. 

Pechell and the other university authorities 

Dr Pechell 

were summoned before the ecclesiastical deprived of the 
commission. Pechell was deprived of his To'SSof^^^' 
office as vice-chancellor and suspended Cambridge, 
from the emoluments of his mastership. 

The presidentship of Magdalen, Oxford, fell vacant. 
The court recommended to the fellows, for the vacant 
post, one Anthony Farmer. By the statutes 
of the college the president must have been Mag(kLn, 
a fellow either of Magdalen or of New Col- ^e t d' 
lege. Farmer had been a fellow of neither, 
and he besides possessed every disquahfication for such 
an office He had escaped expulsion from Cambridge 
by hurriedly quitting that university ; he had then joined 
the dissenters, afterwards had entered at Magdalen, Ox- 
ford, and had earned notoriety by his profligacy and evil 
life. He had now turned Papist as an easy means of 
rising in the world. The fellows met, and in spite of 
the royal recommendation elected Dr. Hough, one of 
their body, a man well fitted for the post. The fellows 

I 



114 The Fall of the Stuarts f dr*c. a.d. 

were cited before the ecclesiastical commission. The 
proofs of Farmer's unfitness were so convincin^^ that the 
commission did not try to force him on the college, but 
Hough's election was declared invalid. James soon after 
sent a letter ordering the fellows to elect as their presi- 
dent, Parker, the bishop of Oxford. The fellows replied 
that the presidentship was not vacant. They remained 
firm, although James sent several influential men ( Penn, 
the Quaker, amongst the number ), to remonstrate with 
them. At last a troop of soldiers was sent to expel the 
recalcitrants. Bishop Parker was formally installed, two 
only of the fellows being present. James said that no 
further steps should be taken against the disobedient 
fellows if they would ask for pardon and acknowledge 
their error. This they refused to do, and they were 
consequently deprived of their fellowships. In a few 
months all the revenues of Magdalen College were en- 
joyed by Papists. 

Section V. — The Autumn of 1687. 

The camp was again formed on Hounslow Heath, and 
was frequently visited by the king and queen, both in 
state and privately. 

On July 3 the king received in state the papal nuncio. 

He could hardly venture on this outrage on Protestantism 

in London, so Windsor saw a train of thirty- 
Reception . . 1 ■ 1 1 / 
of the papal SIX Carriages, amongst which were those ot 

nuncio. ^^^ Bishops of Durham and Winchester, 

conducting with unwonted pomp the ambassador of the 
pope. 

James had discussed with his council the expediency 
of this step, and also of dissolving the parliament, 
which had not met for business for twenty months. 



1687. The Autufnn of idSy. 115 

The more moderate members of the council, Resignation 

01 several 

although they were firm Tories and loyal to privy coun- 
the reigning house, were opposed to both 
these measures of the king, and when they found him 
resolved on them, thought it advisable to resign their seats 
at the council-table. 

Lord Sunderland and Father Petre were now virtually 
the sole ministers, and James, with their concurrence, 
dissolved the parliament, hoping that a more 
subservient one would be elected. With this Parliament 

dissolved. 

object the work of remodelling the corpora- 
tions was pressed on, in order that the members of the 
corporations should be confined as much as possible to 
such as were of the Romish faith, or were nonconformists. 
In the autumn of 1687 James made a progress through 
the West of England, in the hope of gaining over that 
part of the country in which Monmouth had found his 
chief support. Among his suite on this occasion was 
William Penn, the Quaker, whose presence James 
thought would conciliate the dissenters. The king ex- 
pressed himself as everywhere satisfied with the marks of 
affection and loyalty shown to him ; but a disinterested 
and keen-sighted spectator, Barillon, the French ambas- 
sador, reported to his master, Lewis, that there was no 
real enthusiasm for James, and that he saw on the other 
hand evident signs of disaffection. 



Ii6 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c, a.d. 



CHAPTER X. 

IRELAND UNDER JAMES II. 

Section I. — Preliminary Sketch of Ireland. 

The people of Ireland were of two distinct races ; the 

native Irish, who were Celts and Roman Catholics, and 

the colonists, who were, in Leinster and the 

Population of <-,, /--r~>i*-ii 

Ireland, how Settled part of Munster, of English descent 
and in Ulster, the northern province, of 
Scotch descent. A great number of English settlers were 
old soldiers of Cromwell and Nonconformists ; the re- 
maining English were descendants of the colonists of 
Elizabeth's reign, and were Episcopalians. The settlers 
of Ulster, the Scotch colonists, were for the most part 
Presbyterians. 

Although the Irish parliament, sitting in Dublin, was 

composed entirely of Protestants, the penal laws against 

Roman Catholics, which were in force in Eng_ 

Religious -I'll' 

liberty in land, had not as yet been introduced into 

Ireland, and Roman Catholics enjoyed free 
exercise of their religion. 

The native Irish, occupying the whole of the province 

of Connaugh, and some small parts of Munster, led hves 

., , which were almost barbarous. Sept, or clan- 

Uncivilized .,, , , , -i rx-i • 

state of native law. Still held sway amongst them. Iheir 
chiefs were but little more civilized than the 
common people, their one great virtue being that of hos- 
pitality, and this was exercised to such an extent as to 
keep them impoverished. 

Continually had the Irish been in rebellion, and each 
rebellion, as it had been put down, had been followed 



i66o. Preliminary Sketch of Ireland. 117 

by the confiscation of the lands of the rebels. 

^ . , Cromwell s 

During Cromwell's firm and severe adminis- treatment of 
tration, the Irish had been forcibly driven 
into Connaught, or transported to the plantations in 
America ; while thousands of the better class, permitted 
to emigrate, had taken service in the armies of Spain 
and other foreign nations. 

The population of Ireland may be roughly estimated 
as at this time about one million native Irish, and about 
two hundred thousand English and Scotch -^y , . 

° . Number of 

colonists. But all the influence in the thepopula- 
country was exercised by the latter, for the 
Irish, divided amongst themselves, were utterly deficient 
in that power of organization which would have rendered 
them, by reason of their superior numbers, formidable. 
After the Restoration (1660) the Episcopalian Church 
became again the Established Church in Ireland. This 
anomaly caused a numerous hierarchy and ^ , 

•^ . Episcopacy 

a large number of inferior clergy to be ap- established 
pointed, to take spiritual care of a scattered 
population, not equaling in souls one of the smaller Eng- 
lish dioceses. 

On the re-establishment of the monarchy in England, 
the chief settlers in Ireland, many of whom were old 
Cromwellian soldiers, offered the crown of Ireland to 
Charles II., on the condition that the lands they were 
now in possession of should be legally se- 
cured to them. An Act of Settlement was ac- the disaffec- 
cordingly passed, by which the actual 
holders of land, on payment of a small fine to Charles, 
became its legal possessors. Of the lands not claimed, 
or thus legally settled, a great part was granted to James, 
Duke of York, and to courtiers of the king. But many 
of the native Irish, both nobles and gentry, had been 



ii8 The Fall of the Stuarts, &'c, a.d. 



i 



warm supporters of the Stuarts against the commonwealth, 
and had suffered for their loyalty, and these were loud 
in their complaints of Charles* want of faith and justice. 
A court of claims accordingly sat, and after many hun- 
dred claims had been heard by it, and pronounced valid, 
the Irish parliament passed a compromise, called an Act ' 
of Explanation, by which one-third of the grants under 
the Act of Settlement were yielded to the Irish royalists, 
in order to satisfy their demands. But this concession 
was not nearly sufficient, and consequently a feeling 
of disaffection became widespread throughout the native 
Irish. 

Section II. — Ireland and the Accession of fames 11. , i68^. 

At the accession of James II., in 1685, he found the 
native Irish, all of whom were Roman Catholics, opposed 
to the English rule, as to that of a conquering minority, 
whilst the few nobles who, not of choice but from interest, 
were inclined to be friendly to England, were prevented 
by their religion from sitting in the Irish parliament. 
Of the settlers, the Scotch Presbyterians shared the feel- 
ings of their brethren in their native country, and hated 

Episcopalians with the true religious fury. 
Parties in In the Irish Parliament the Presbyterians 

lel'-f"'^*" and Episcopalians were nearly balanced, 

whilst the Protestant Nonconformists, in 
numbers almost equaling the other two parties, had but 
few seats in the Parliament. The Episcopalians alone 
were hearty supporters of the house of Stuart; the Pres- 
byterians and Nonconformists were Whigs. 

James was in almost favorable position for tranquil- 
Policy of lizing Ireland, for, as a Roman Catholic, he 
James. ^^^ much morc acceptable to the native 
Irish than his predecessors had been. Had he followed 



1687. Clarendon and Tyrconnel. 119 

his true interests, he would have endeavored, firstly, to 
unite together, as firmly as possible, the English settlers 
m Ireland, and secondly, by wise acts of mediation, to 
bridge over the differences between the English and 
Irish. Thus he might have welded them into one peo- 
ple. James, however, followed a directly opposite policy, 
and the results of this misgovernment of Ireland are 
visible at the present day. 

The Duke of Ormond was at the time of the death of 
Charles II. both lord lieutenant and commander of the 
forces. He was a staunch Protestant, and 
as being an inhabitant of Ireland, descended ^^^^^^ oiOt- 
from an English colonist, and of great 
wealth and high rank, he was the natural head of the 
English in Ireland. But soon after his accession James 
recalled him, and the office of lord lieutenant was be- 
stowed on his own brother-in-law, Lord Clarendon, 
whilst the post of general of the troops was given to 
Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnel. 

Section III. — Clarendon and Tyrconnel. 

Talbot was descended from one of the old Norman 
families settled in Leinster, but his immediate ancestors 
had fallen into poverty and were in no wise 
to be distinguished from the native Irish ^^^''^^^'''^ ^^^' 
gentry. He had come to London, when 
young, as an adventurer. He soon gained an evil no- 
toriety, and was employed by both Charles II. and James 
in many discreditable deeds, in which he had shown that 
he was deterred by no scruples from shedding blood or 
from breaking his oath. He was a coarse, vulgar, tru- 
culent ruffian, greedy and unprincipled ; but in the eyes 
of James he had great virtues, for he was devated to the 
Romish Church and to his sovereign. " Lying Dick 



I20 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. 

Talbot," as he was called, was raised by James to the 
peerage as Earl of Tyrconnel. 

Lord Clarendon was, from the time of his appoint- 
ment, hampered by his associate. He was anxious to 
govern the country justly, and to sow the 
Clarendon's seeds of union. He wrote to James long de- 

Iii63.surcs 

opposed by spatches, entering minutely into the condi- 
Tyrconnei. ^^^^ ^f Ireland, and pointing out the mea- 
sures by which he thought the mutual animosities of the 
faces might be allayed. But Tyrconnel violently op- 
posed all his plans, and at last set off for London to have 
an interview with James. 

The result of that interview was the recall of Claren- 
don. With his fall from power was associated that of 
his brother, Lord Rochester, who was at the 
Hy'de^ dis- Same time dismissed from his office of lord 
imssal from treasurer and from his seat on the ecclesi- 
astical commission. The disgrace of the 
king's two brothers-in-law, supposed to have been caused 
by the attachment of both to the Protestant faith, was 
deeply felt both in England and Ireland. In England 
it was considered to be one further blow aimed at Pro- 
testantism. But the English in Ireland knew that it 
meant nothing less than that the Papists and Irish were 
in the ascendancy, and that their lives and property were 
in jeopardy. To add to these feelings of insecurity, Tyr- 
connel returned, not indeed as lord lieutenant, but with 
the power which Ormond had formerly held, although 
under a new title, that of lord deputy. 

Section IV. — Tyrconnel as Lord Deputy of Ireland. 

The rule of Tyrconnel entirely subverted the 
old order of things. Protestants were disarmed, and 
Protestant soldiers were disbanded. The militia was 



1687. Tyrconnel, Lord Deputy of Ireland. 121 

composed wholly of Roman Catholics. The Roman Ca- 

,. ^ . ^ . . , . tholics fa- 

dispensmg power m the royal prerogative vored by 
set aside the statutes of the kingdom, aud yrconne . 
the bench and privy council were occupied by Ro- 
man Catholics. Vacant bishoprics of the Established 
Church remained unfilled and their revenues were devoted 
to Romish priests. Tithes were with impunity withheld 
from the clergy of the Establishment. 

Tyrconnel proposed to summon a parliament, but 
James withheld his permission. Barillon had told the 
king that Tyrconnel had traitorous designs in summoning 
a parliament; that he intended to declare Ireland an in- 
dependent kingdom, and had even asked ^ , . 

/• • T r n • 1 French m- 

the assistance of Lewis XIV. for his plans. trigues in 
Tyrconnel, on being called on for an expla- 
nation, said that all his schemes were laid in order to 
prepare a safe asylum for James and the royal famiiy in 
case of a successful Protestant revolution. The actual 
truth was, that Tyrconnel was also in the pay of Lewis 
XIV. ; that Barillon's disclosures to James revealed only 
half the matter ; that these disclosures were made be- 
cause it was thought that James might discover the in- 
trigue through some other source; and that, in case 
James died without male issue (at this time a most pro- 
bable event), Tyrconnel was to declare Ireland a depen- 
dency of France, and, if the parliament were summoned, 
was to have induced that body to support his declaration 
of separation from England. 

The hatred of the Irish Roman Catholic towards the 
Protestant settlers was excited to the utmost under Tyr- 
connel's rule. The former now hoped to h ed f 
mete out to the latter a full measure of re- Roman 
taliation. The breach was widened owing wards Pro- 
to the fear and distrust openly showed by testants. 



122 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. 

the Protestants and has never since been effectually re- 
paired. 



CHAPTER XI. 



WILLIAM, LEWIS, AND JAMES DURING THE WINTER OF 
1687 AND SPRING AND SUMMER OF I688. 

Section I. — William gathers Information and opens a 
Correspondence with the Disaffected in England. 

The general insecurity felt in England in 1687 had 
caused many influential noblemen to urge on William 
of Orange an active interference. William, however, 
with that calm judgment and patient for- 
Wiiiiam bcarauce which were characteristic of him, 

p^'^r^not^^ decided that the opportune time had not as 
sufficiently yg^ comc. For the defence of Germany he 

ripe. •' '' 

had negotiated the League of Augsburg, and 
had thus frustrated the schemes of Lewis XIV. in that 
quarter. But James had not yet openly committed him- 
self to an offensive alliance with France, and Lewis' in- 
terference in English politics had been confined to per- 
sonal advice to James, to bribery of the nobility and 
leading politicians, and to various underhand intrigues. 
The Stadtholder, however, sent over to London a 
trustworthy agent, Dykvelt, to report to him on the state 
of affairs. He engaged also a Whig refugee, Dr. Bur- 
net, afterwards bishop of Salisbury, to go to 

William as- j ^ i • ^ • 

sistsDykveit the Haguc and act as his secretary m cor- 
and Burnet. responding with his English friends. Bur- 
net (whose " History of his own Time " is one of the 



1 688. William gathers Information, 123 

chief sources of information for students of the Revolu- 
tion of 1688) was a Scotchman, and had been a profes- 
sor at Glasgow, whence he had gone to London, and 
had been made a chaplain to Charles II. ; but on ac- 
count of his intimacy with Russell and the leaders of the 
Whig party, he had thought it prudent, soon after the 
Rye House Plot, to retire to Holland. 

Dykvelt, oq arriving in London, held interviews with 
many influential statesmen, both there and in the country, 
without in any way committing his master. He sought 
the opinions of both Tories and Whigs, avoiding only 
those who were tainted with Romanism. His reports 
confirmed William in his policy of waiting. When he 
returned to Holland Dykvelt took with him ^ , , 

^ Dykvelt 

letters from Lords Danby and Halifax, as- returns to 
suring William of their co-operation when- 
ever and however he might think fit to move more ac- 
tively. Lord Churchill, the petted proteg^ of James, 
wrote also to William, offering him his services, and pro- 
fessing himself ready to die the death of a martyr for 
the Protestant religion. 

But when the Hydes (Lords Clarendon and Roches- 
ter) were dismissed from their offices, such feelings of 
distrust were raised that men of both political parties in 
England importuned William to take some decided step. 
William, determined accurately to gauge the state of the 
country, dispatched another agent, not as before a diplo- 
matist like Dykvelt, but a soldier, Zulestein, able to ob- 
serve with a soldier's eye the signs of loyalty 
or disaffection to Tames in the army on Zulestein 

•' ■' England 

Hounslow Heath, and to judge with a sol- 
dier's perception what reliance, in a military point of 
view, could be placed on William's adherents, and more 
particularly on his friends in the English navy. Zules- 



124 ^^^ Fall of the Stuarts, &*c. a.d. 

tein was connected by ties of family with William, and 
was therefore a person of sufficient distinction to be in- 
vited to the houses of the English nobility ; and as he 
did not visit England officially, his presence did not 
bring down on his hosts the suspicions of James. On 
his return to Holland, Zulestein made a much more fa- 
vorable report than Dykvelt had, of the strength of 
William's party. He also brought back with him fresh 
letters of adherence. 

Henceforth, the friends of William in England kept 
up a constant correspondence with the Hague. 

Section H. — October, 1687. 

Another event occurred to strengthen the views of 
those who advised William of Orange to take immediate 
action. Mary, William's wife, was at present heiress- 
^ . presumptive to the throne of England, and 

pected con- onc of William's reasons for inactivity was 
nemen . ^_^^ sooner or later he would be able to 

make use of the power of England in restraining the 
inordinate pretensions of the king of France. But now, 
(October, 1687), to the astonishment of every one, it was 
announced that the birth of a child was expected by the 
queen. She had already borne James four children, all 
of whom had died in their infancy, and six years had 
elapsed since the birth of the last. She was no longer 
young. 

The announcement was received at first with incredu- 
lity, but as by degrees its importance began 
of it was re- to bc realized, the joy of the Roman Catho- 
lics knew no bounds. They declared that 
the expected event was owing to the direct intervention 
of the Deity ; and that it was a miracle vouchsafed to 
the prayers of the faithful. They likened the queen to 



1 6 8 8 . Second Declaration of Indulgence. 125 

Sarah and to Hannah, mothers in Israel. The Protestants, 
both Whig and Tory, beheved that it was an impudent 
attempt of the Papists to foist a supposititious child on the 
country ; and that it was a Jesuitical plot and intrigue 
against WiUiam, the champion of the Protestant faith in 
Europe. 
So, uneasily, passed the winter of 1687-88. 

Section III. — The Second Declaration of Indulgence^ 
and Trial of the Seven Bishops. 

In April, 1688, James put forth a second declaration of 
indulgence. As in the former one published in 1687, 
this also suspended all penal laws against 
nonconformists, and abolished religious 
tests as qualifications for office ; but it con- Declaration 
tained this important addition, that the king dukence. 
would employ no one, in either a civil or 
military appointment, who refused to concur in this new 
declaration. Concurrence, therefore, in the declaration 
was made the new test. 

James announced also his intention of summoning a 
parliament in November, and appealed to james talks 
his subjects to choose representatives who of calling 
would aid him in carrying the measures he Parliament. 
had so much at heart. 

On May 4 an order of council was passed command- 
ing the clergy of all denominations to read Declaration 
the declaration from their pulpits on two be^^readin 
successive Sundays. The first of these Sun- churches. 
days was to be for London parishes. May 20 ; for the 
country ones, June 3. Meetings of the clergy took place 
on the publication of this order. The High Church 
party, who had thus far always preached the doctrine of 



126 The Fall of the Stuarts, &*€. a.d. 

passive obedience and of the divine right 
are indig- of kings, agreed that this order was an in- 

sult to the Church which even their princi- 
ples would not compel them to put up with. The more 
liberal-minded clergy, and those who were inclined to 
the politics of the Whigs, declared that, under the guise 
of liberty of conscience, a blow was aimed at the Esta- 
blished Church, the maintenance of which they held to 
be the safeguard against Rome and intolerance. 

At a general meeting held at Lambeth, a petition to 

the king w^as drawn up, and signed by the archbishop of 

Canterbury and six bishops. It prayed the 

Protest of , . -^ . . -,.,.,,, 

the Seven kmg not to msist on their readmg the decla- 

ops. ration, which contained " such a dispensing 

power as Parliament had declared illegal." The names 
of the "seven bishops," as they are commonly called, 
should not be forgotten. They are — Bancroft, archbishop 
of Canterbury ; Ken, bishop of Bath and Wells ; Lake, 
bishop of Chichester ; Lloyd, bishop of St. Asaph ; Sir 
J. Trelawny, bishop of Bristol ; Turner, bishop of Ely ; 
White, bishop of Peterborough. 

As the archbishop, owing to his refusal to sit on the 
ecclesiastical commission, had been forbidden the court, 
the six bishops carried to James their petition. The king 
was furious. He told the bishops they were rebels, but 
that there were still left seven thousand of the Church 
who had not bowed their knee to Baal ; that he would 
keep the petition, and would not forget who had signed 
it ; that no good churchman ever vet denied 

Interview ° 

of the the dispensing power of the Crown. Ken 

with James. asked James to grant to them the same lib- 
erty of conscience which he granted to 
others. On James refusing to do this, the bishop re- 
joined, " We have two duties — one duty to God and one 



1 6 8 8 . Trial of the Seven Bishops. 127 

duty to your Majesty. " The king became yet more 
angry, and dismissed them. Ken, as he retired, ejacu- 
lated, " God's will be done." 

In very few churches or chapels in the kingdom was 
the declaration read. 

The primate and his six suffragans v/ere summoned be- 
fore the king in council. They acknow- 
ledged the petition to be theirs. They committed 
were accordingly ordered to find bail to an- tower, 
swer a criminal information for libel in the 
King's Bench. This they declined to do, as it would be 
yielding up their legal privileges as peers of the realm. 
They were accordingly committed to the Tower. Their 
passage to the Tower, by water, resembled a triumph- 
al procession. Between two lines of boats the bishops 
passed, amidst shouts of " God bless your lord- 
ships ! " 

On June 10 an infant prince was born. No time could 
have been more inauspicious. Through- 
out England James was unpopular. The birth ^Tnce"^ * 
of the prince produced a fresh complication 
in the tangled web of European politics. 

On June 1 5 the archbishop and bishops were brought 
into court to plead. Their counsel took legal 
objections to their commitment ; but these commhted^^ 
were overruled, and the trial was fixed for *° *^"*^- 
June 29. 

During the intervening fortnight tumults took place. 
Papists were insulted. Huge bonfires were 
lighted. In the West of England, where ^"^^^*= ^^^'^^- 

° ° ' ment. 

the memory of Monmouth was still revered, 
the peasantry prepared again to take up arms. The 
Cornish miners, who loved Trelawny as the representa- 
tive of an old cherished Cornish family, sang 



128 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c. A.D. 

"And shall Trelawny die, and shall Trelawny die? 
Then twenty thousand Cornish boys will know the reason why." 

On the appointed day the trial commenced. The 
defendants were charged with publishing a false, mali- 
cious, and seditious libel. The counsel for 
the defence urged that there was no publica- 
tion, for the petition was placed in the king's hand ; that 
the petition was not false, for all that it contained was in 
the journals of Parliament ; that it was not malicious, for 
the defendants had not sought to make strife, but had 
been placed in the situation in which they found them- 
selves by the action of the Government ; that it was not 
seditious, for it was seen by the king alone ; that it was 
not a libel but a decent petition, such as subjects might 
lawfully present to their king. Two great constitutional 
questions were thus before the court — the denial of the 
dispensing power of the king, the claim of the right of 
every subject to petition. 

The counsel for the prosecution were A^eak in their 
speeches. The high-handed measures of Lord Chancellor 
Jeffreys had so disgusted all the more digni- 
'^^\- fied of the legal profession that the crown 

found difficulty in filling the higher offices 
of the law. There were four judges on the bench. Two 
summed up in favor of the crown ; the other two, Hol- 
loway and Powell, in favor of the bishops. The jury 
retiring to consider their verdict, sat all night in consul- 
tation, and at ten in the morning brought in a verdict of 
* not guilty.* 

The joy of the populace knew no bounds. West- 
minster Hall resounded with shouts, which were taken up 
throughout London and its suburbs. James 

How the ° . . ■' 

verdict was had gone to Hounslow to visit the camp. An 
express messenger arrived announcmg the 



1 683. The Invitation to William, 129 

verdict. The soldiers raised cries of exultation at the 
acquittal of the bishops. This prosecution united all 
classes in opposition to the Government. The cause of 
the Church and the cause of freedom was for once the 
same. The great majority of the peers, both lay and 
spiritual, the universities, the clergy, the dissenters, the 
army, the navy, the landed gentry, the merchants, all, 
in short, who called themselves Protestants, were firmly 
knit together to oppose the king and his Romish advisers. 
The tories no longer held to their doctrine of passive 
obedience ; they now maintained that extreme oppres- 
sion might justify resistance, and that the oppression 
which the nation now suffered was extreme. 

Section IV. — The Invitation to William. 
In May, Edward Russell had gone over to the Hague 
to represent the actual state of affairs in England, and 
the necessity of active interference on the 
part of William. Russell (a cousin of Wil- Edward 
Ham, Lord Russell), was an officer in the Rusgiito 
navy, and had once been a member of 
James' household, when James was Duke of York, but 
had resigned on the fall of the Whigs. William spoke 
most cautiously to Russell. He told him he wanted 
written invitations and promises of support from men of 
position of all parties. Russell answered that it was 
necessary to the success of the design that it should not 
be known to a great many. To this William assented, 
and said he would be satisfied if the signatures were few 
in number, provided they were those of statesmen repre- 
senting great interests. Thus commissioned, Russell 
returned to London. To Dykvelt William remarked, 
" Aut nunc aut nunquam " — " Now or never." 
On the 30th of June, the day of the acquittal of the 

K 



130 The Fall of the Stuarts J ^c. a.d. 

bishops, Admiral Herbert, disguised as a common sailor, , 
Admiral ^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^ Dutch coast. He was the 



Herbert bearer of a paper signed in cypher. Those 

William an who had signed were but seven. They were 
the Earl of Devonshire, who represented the 
old Whig party ; the Earl of Shrewsbury, who, bred a 
Roman Catholic, had been converted to Protestantism 
by Archbishop Tillotson ; the Earl of Danby, a Tory, 
who had been driven from power by the Whigs, but 
whose chief political maxim was hostility to France and 
Lewis XIV. ; Compton, the suspended bishop of Lon- 
don, who represented the clergy ; Henry Sidney, brother 
of Algernon Sidney, who represented those holding the 
more extreme political views for which his brother had 
suffered on the scaffold ; Lord Lumley, who had hitherto 
been attached to the cause of James, and had done good 
service in suppressing Monmouth's insurrection ; and 
Russell, who represented the chief officers of the navy. 
Some have called these seven " the seven patriots." 

The letter, which invited William to land in England 
with a body of troops, assured him " that the greatest 
The terms P^^^ ^^ ^^^ nobility and gentry are as much 
?^*^^ . dissatisfied as themselves ; that nineteen out 

invitation. 

of every twenty are desirous of a change ; 
that very many of the common soldiers do daily show 
such an aversion to the Popish religion that there is the 
greatest probability they would desert; and amongst 
the seamen there is not one in ten who would do James 
any service." 

William made up his mind at once to sail for Eng- 
land. 

Before entering on an account of William's success, it 
will be well to point out briefly the difficulties of his 
position. 



i688. William^ s Proclamation, 131 

He was at the head of a small republic, which at great 
sacrifices and with great difficulty had succeeded in pre- 
serving its independence against the assaults Difficulties 
of Lewis XIV. He had now to prepare an of William's 

■^ , . situation. 

expedition, neither too small, lest it might 
be crushed by James ; nor too large, lest it should drain 
the resources of his country, and leave her unprotected. 
He had to guard against the jealousy of his Dutch sub- 
jects. He had to trust the representations of the " seven 
ipatriots," who might after all be judging of their coun- 
trymen by their own wishes. He could not but see that 
the English nation had displayed for some years past 
but little love of freedom or spirit of resistance to 
tyranny. He knew that Monmouth and Argyle had 
both failed. He knew also, that however loudly the 
nation exclaimed against Popery, the pulpits of its 
Established Church had for years been filled by clergy 
who preached the doctrine of passive obedience, its seats 
of justice had been occupied by lawyers who pronounced 
that doctrine to be the law of the land, and its later 
parliaments had admitted the same fatal principle. 

These difficulties must be borne in mind in order to 
form a fair estimate of the great man who in the face of 
them formed his determination, and in spite of them 
succeeded in his design. 

Section V. — James Proceedmgs after the Acquittal of 
the Bishops. 

As soon as the news of the acquittal of the bishops* 
was brought to Hounslow, James took horse and hurried 
to London. He had thus the mortification 
of seeing the rejoicings, the bonfires and ge^s housed, 
the fireworks which the result of the trial 
produced. The spirit of revenge, which was natural to 



T32 The Fall of the Stuarts y &^c. a.d. 

him, was aroused. He issued an order to the archdean- 
cons to report to the High Commissioners the names off 
all the clergy who had omitted to read the declarations 
He dismissed from the bench the two judges, Hollowayy 
and Powell, who had summed up in favor of thee 
bishops. He rewarded those who supported his ownn 
views, and, still further to vex English churchmen, andd 
to gain over the dissenters, Dr. Titus, a noted Presbyte-:- 
rian, was made a member of the Privy Council. 

James learnt, from the acclamations of the troops at^ 

Hounslow, that they were not to be depended on. Hee 

therefore broke up the encampment in July,, 

appointed and trusted by a personal appeal to eacWi 

with the . . , . , , , , . 

troops, regnnent smgly, to wm them back to theirr 

li-ishf '^^^^ fidelity, and to engage their aid in carrying^ 
into effect his determination concerning thee 
test. He made his first attempt at extracting a personall 
engagement from the men of each corps with Lord Lich- 
field's regiment, now the 12th Foot. In this he failed,, 
the soldiers with hardly an exception declining to sign any)' 
engagement. James left the ground on which the regi- 
ment was paraded, exclaiming, "I shall not do you the? 
honor to consult you another time.*' Thus baulked, he de- 
termined to bring over Irish battalions, raised and trained! 
by Tyrconnel, and also to enlist in English regimentss 
Irish recruits brought over from their country for thatt 
purpose. These steps, however, still further increased] 
the disaffection of the army. English and Irish hated; 
each other with a deadly hatred. In some cases, thes 
attempt to introduce Irish recruits into a regiment t 
excited a mutiny. 
Disafifection The Spirit of disloyalty raised by the trial of H 

increases. ^^ bishops was aggravated by these various 

acts of James in the months of July, August and September. 



1 688. Lewis declares War. 133 



Section VI . — Lewis Declares War Against the Emperor. 

We have seen how the claims of the Duchess of Or- 
leans to some of the possessions of the Elector Palatine 
had been supported by Lewis, had then been referred 
to the Emperor, and by him had been disallowed ; and 
we have also seen how Lewis' attempted interference 
by arms was frustrated by the League of Augsburg. 
Another quarrel now arose between the 
French and Imperial courts. The archie- abourthe 
piscopal electorate of Koln (Cologne) had KSm^"^^'^ °^ 
become vacant. Lewis was desirous that 
a protege of his, von Fiirstenberg (brother of the bishop 
of Strasburg, who had been instrumental in gaining pos- 
session of that city for the French), should be elected to 
fill the vacancy. The Emperor, on the other hand, 
wished to place a Bavarian prince in the electorate. 
The Pope, opposed to Lewis, supported the Emperor's 
candidate. The Chapter of Koln had to decide between 
the rivals. French influence prevailed, and von Fiirs- 
tenberg was elected by the majority of the Chapter (15 
votes to 9). This election the Pope declared invalid, 
insisting, further, that the Bavarian was the rightful 
elector. 

Against this decision Lewis appealed to arms. In 
spite of the Pope, he proclaimed war against the Em- 
peror. All the German princes who had joined the 
League of Augsburg were united against 
France. Lewis had been informed by his Lewis takes 

•' up arms, 

ambassador at the Hague that William was 
fitting out an expedition, but with such skill had the des- 
tination of it been concealed that it was not until the 



134 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. A.D. 

month of September that the ambassador 
James of learnt it was intended for England. Lewis 

dislgnr ^ ^^^^ ^° ^^.Ti\^ in warning James of the de- 

signs of William, and in offering him assist- 
ance. 

Had Lewis been free now to direct a large army on 

Holland, the States-General would not have allowed 

William to move from home, nor to take 

witToeTmany with him Dutch troops ; but the war with the 

^P'^^r-n?^^ Emperor demanded all the French troops, 

for William. ^ f 

and for weeks before the actual declaration 
of hostilities the army stationed on the borders of 
Flanders had been steadily making towards the Rhine. 
Lewis did, indeed, instruct his ambassador to inform the 
States-General that if any direct act of hostility was com- 
mitted by Holland against his ally, the King of England, 
he should consider it as a declaration of war. 

James, on his part, after receiving the warning of Lewis, 

gave him no encouragement to interfere more actively. 

To the offer by the French king of naval 

James . ,. , . 

refuses Lewis' assistance James replied m a contemptuous 
ep. jj^j^nner, either wishing his subjects to sup- 
pose that he himself felt safe on his throne, or giving way to 
one of those outbursts of sullen pride to which he was 
subject. 
The unpopularity of James with his subjects and the 
war against Germany undertaken by Lewis 

Chances of . .... 

William's sue- were two great aids in ensuring the ultimate 

cesses are <- ittt-it 

great. success 01 William. 

Section Vll. — WillianCs Proclamation. 

In September a proclamation was drawn up for 
William which was translated into Enghsh by Burnet 
for circulation. It was dated from the Hague, October 



1 688. William^ s Proclamatio7i. 135 

10, and set forth in temperate language the various 
grievances to which the English people had been sub- 
jected. It stated that their liberties, laws, and religion 
were imperiled ; that the birth of the young prince was 
attended by such grave suspicions as to demand the 
strictest and most impartial investigation ; that at the 
request of many lords, both temporal and spiritual, and 
of other persons of all ranks, he (William) had been 
requested to repair to England, accompanied by such 
forces as would be sufficiently strong to repel violence. 
It concluded by solemnly assuring English- ^^^ ^^^^ 
men that in thus acting William had no mation of 
thoughts of conquest, that the troops should 
be kept under the strictest discipline ; that as soon as the 
nation was free he could send them back to Holland, 
and that his sole object was to obtain the assembling of 
a free and legal parliament which should decide all 
questions public and private. 

James now became fully alive to the situation. He 
was willing to make concessions. He gave audience 
(October 2) toall the bishops then in London, 
and listened to their advice without bursting James makes 

" concessions. 

into a passion. They counselled him to 
return to a legal course of government, to summon a 
parliament, to abolish the Ecclesiastical Commission, to 
redress the wrongs done to the corporate towns and the 
universities, and, if possible, to rejoin the church of his 
father and grandfather. As if to add force to the counsel 
of the bishops, and to quicken James' decision, riots 
broke out in London, and several Romish chapels were 
burnt. 

Some of the suggestions of the bishops were adopted 
by James. Many dignitaries who had been displaced — 
Compton, bishop of London, among them — were rein- 



136 The Fall of the Stuarts, &'c. a.d. 

stated. The charter of the city of London was carried 
back in state to the Guildhall. The Ecclesiastical Com- 
mission was abolished. The president and fellows of 
Magdalen were restored to their college. Sunderland 
and Father Petre were dismissed from their seats in the 
council. But the king would not yield his claim of the 
" dispensing power." 

On October 21 James met at Whitehall all the peers, 
both spiritual and temporal, who could be collected, the 
^ . . judges, the Lord Mayor and aldermen of 

Proofs of T 1 J 1 -J 1. i- T 

the birth London, and laid before them mmute proofs 

princ^e of the birth of the Prince of Wales. The 

produced. evidence was sufficient to convince impar- 

tial minds, and all those present were satisfied. But the 
great majority of the people were still unconvinced ; they 
were not impartial, and there were few English Protes- 
tants of that generation who did not consider the young 
prince an impostor, whom the Jesuits were endeavoring 
to foist on the country. 

Burnet's translation of the '* Declaration " of William 
reached London about November i, and was secretly 
and swiftly passed from hand to hand. 



William's Proclamation. 



137 




138 The Fall of the Stuarts, &>€. a.d. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE REVOLUTION. 

Section I. — William in England. 

On the i6th of October William took leave of the Dutch 
,„.„. , Estates. He told them that he went to Eng-- 

Wllll3.m tl3.1C6S 

leave of the land in defence of the reformed religion, 
and of the independence of Europe ; " that 
he might not return, but in that case left his beloved wife 
in their care." He himself spoke with unfaltering voice, 
but the Assembly was not equally calm, many of the 
members being moved even to tears. But William re- 
mained "firm in his usual gravity and phlegm." 

On the 19th, the embarkation took place at Helvoet- 
sluys. The fleet consisted of 50 men of war, 
wniiamsets 35 frigates, some fire ships, and 400 trans- 
ports, having on board 4,000 cavalry and 
10,000 infantry fully equipped. Much discussion and 
some difference of opinion had arisen as to the part of 
England on which the descent should be made. Lord 
Danby had been anxious it should be in Yorkshire, and 
thither the fleet was first steered. 

But few hours had passed at sea before a violent west 

wind arose, which drove the ships back to 

Contrary winds harbor. An English fleet, commanded by 

delay the fleet. *=* ^ 

Lord Dartmouth, lay at the mouth of the 
Thames. An east wind, which would be favorable to 
William, would prevent James' fleet from leaving its 
anchorage. For days, however, the west wind blew, 
and Dartmouth was prepared, on the first intelligence of 



1 688. WilliaiTi in England. 139 

William's fleet putting to sea, to sail for the Yorkshire 
coast. 

During this delay, William altered his plans. He 
resolved to land in the West of England, in 
that West which had before shown its at- William sails 

down channel. 

tachment to Protestantism by proclaiming 
Monmouth, and had in consequence suffered so much 
from James and his creature Jeffreys. The wind at 
length changed on the ist of November; a favorable 
easterly breeze set in, "a Protestant wind." For the 
second time William put to sea. The transports were in 
the centre ; to windward and leeward the Dutch men-of- 
war were formed, William's flagship among them, to 
protect the transports. The rear of the fleet was brought 
up by a squadron under Admiral Herbert, so that in case 
Lord Dartmouth should come up with the fleet, he would 
find himself confronted by English ships. But the east 
wind effectually prevented Dartmouth from following 
William. Favored by a fresh gale, William's fleet rapidly 
sailed down channel without meeting a hostile ship. 

Off Torbay the fleet cast anchor, and William landed. 
The day of his landing was November 5, 
the day already endeared to Protestants, the WilHain 

anniversary of the discovery of the Gun- 
powder Plot. Dr. Burnet was amongst the first to dis- 
embark and present himself to William. Understanding 
nothing of military matters, he fussily interrogated Wil- 
liam as to his plans, as to which way he intended to 
march, and when, and desired to be employed by him 
in whatever service he should think fit. William was 
"cheerfuller than ordinary." He replied by asking 
Burnet what he now thought of predestination, and by 
advising him, if he had a mind to be busy, to consult 
the canons. 



140 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. 

William now set to work to make arrangements for 
the landing of his troops. By noon of the 
Marches to (^\^^ ^^ whole force was on its way to Exeter. 
There William remained for ten days. He 
was at first disappointed at not being joined by the 
nobility and gentry. Lamplugh, the bishop, had fled 
from the city, to join James. But before a week was 
over, the news of William's arrival at Exeterwith a large 
army had spread, and many men of consideration joined 
his standard. 

The Dutch troops of William were regarded with 

friendly feelings. The farmers, the trades- 

The Dutch men, and the peasants of the West, were 

troops well 111 t ttt-h- . 

received. struck by the contrast between William s 

soldiers and those whom James had for- 
merly billeted on them. Instead of living at free quar- 
ters amongst them, all provisions were punctually paid 
for, and the people consequently willingly sold to the 
soldiers whatever they required. 

Section II. — Progress of the Revolution. 

But it was not in the West of England only that the 
standard of William was raised. Lord Delamere in 
Revolution in Cheshire put himself at the head of his ten- 
the North. ants, and rode through Manchester, rous- 
ing the townspeople. The Earl of Danby, at the head 
of one hundred gentry and yeomanry, dashed into 
York, and gaining over the militia, who received him 
with shouts of "a free Parliament and the Protestant re- 
ligion," placed the governor under arrest, and won 
the city for William. The Earl of Devonshire, equally 
successful in Derby, marched thence to Nottingham, 
where he was joined by Lords Manchester, Stamford, Rut- 
land, Chesterfield, Cholmondeley, and Grey de Ruthyn. 



i688. Loi'd CJmrchill. 141 

Norwich was seized for William by the Duke of Nor- 
folk. Oxford, the headquarters of Toryism, welcomed 
Lord Lovelace with acclamations, town and 

,j tast and 

gown uniting in shouts of "No Popery. Centre of 

Lord Feversham, commander-in-chief of "^^" 

the royal forces, had despatched troops to the West 
with the utmost speed, in order to check William's ad- 
vance. James' army greatly exceeded in numbers that 
of William, but his officers were not to be trusted. The 
van, consisting principally of cavalry, had reached 
Salisbury, where it had halted. The officer in com- 
mand was Lord Cornburv, eldest son of the ^ , . 

' Defection of 

Earl of Clarendon, and nephew to the Lord Com- 
king. On the 14th of November he led ^^^' 
three regiments out of the town towards Blandford, 
under the pretence of surprising an advanced outpost 
of the Prince of Orange. On the road he tried to 
induce the soldiers to join him in deserting to William. 
Finding himself less successful than he anticipated, he, 
with a few followers, galloped off, leaving the troops to 
return to Salisbury. News of this desertion reached 
James on the 15th. His grief, and that of his queen, 
was excessive. But the man under whose influence 
Cornbury had acted was Lord Churchill. 

Section IIL — Lord Churchill. 

John Churchill had been in boyhood a page of the 
Duke of York. He stood high in James' favor, and his 
interests were well looked after. He received a com- 
mission in the Guards, and served in Africa. ^, 

. Churcnill s 

He afterv/ards accompanied James both on early career 
the Continent and to Scotland, and was ^° mamage. 
with him when he was shipwrecked. In 1681 he mar- 
ried Sarah Jennings, an attendant on the Princess Anne. 



142 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. 

The influence of Lady Churchill over Anne was un- 
bounded. By her interest, Churchill, in 1682, was pro- 
, , moted to a colonelcy in the Guards, and to 

Churchill. a Scotch peerage. On the accession of 

James the Scotch peerage was converted into an English 
one. 

In the suppression of Monmouth's rebeUion, Churchill 
was high in command under Feversham. But notwith- 
standing the confidence placed in him by James, and the 
favors he had received, Churchill entered 
corresponds ^^^° Correspondence with William, before 
with that prince had resolved on his expedi- 

Wilham. ^ 

tion to England. He saw that the cause of 
James was a losing cause. Therefore he deliberately set 
about to betray his patron. By his connivance, a wide- 
spread conspiracy among the officers of the army was 
arranged, and the first fruit of this was the defection of 
James' nephew Cornbury. 

Churchhill's after career showed him to be a man of 
the greatest genius. He shone alike as a general and a di- 
Character of plomatist. But his character for faithlessness 
Churchill. j^g never lost. Loving his wife with a devo- 

tion which was almost romantic, he threw himself heart 
and soul, into her schemes ; and her schemes were all 
directed to personal aggrandizement and to heaping to- 
gether wealth. Churchill was true only to that cause, 
or that master, who best requited his services. He un- 
hesitatingly sacrificed his patriotism, his promises, and 
his friends to his own and his wife's greed and ambition. 
It is true that he had been brought up in a profligate and 
unprincipled court, that his education had been entirely 
neglected, and that his conduct was not worse than 
that of many of the politicians of the day. But the glory 
he afterwards achieved, and the greatness of his natural 



1 688. Collapse of the Court Party. 143 

powers, bring into stronger light the base motives which 
regulated his conduct. 

Section IV. — Collapse of the Court Party and attempt 
of the King to fly. 
Jarnes called together the chief officers of his army- 
still in London, and consulted them as to the spirit of 
disloyalty which had manifested itself. Among those 
present at this council were Churchill, the 
Duke of Grafton, Kirke, and Trelawnv, Churchill 

' ' and other 

brother of the bishop of Bristol. All swore officers swear 

they would be true to the last drop of their 

blood. 

A large body of peers, both lay and spiritual, with the 
archbishop, Bancroft, at their head, presented to James a 
petition, asking him to summon a parlia- 

<i 3,111 CS 

ment and to negotiate with the Prince of refuses the 
Orange. The king indignantly refused to a°nd^sete^off°" 
hsten to their arguments in favor of the f°'*bisarmy. 
terms of the petition, " Was this a time," said he, " to 
call together a parliament, when a foreign enemy was 
in the country?" Then, attended by the officers in 
whom he trusted, but by whom he was being betrayed, 
he set out for Salisbury, where he arrived on the 19th. 

Feversham waited on James immediately after his 
arrival, and reported the spread of disaffection in his 
army. News also arrived that the troops of the Prince of 
Orange were advancing from Exeter. A council of war 
was held on the evening of the 24th. Feversham pro- 
posed that the king should retire with his army to Wind- 
sor, lest William should cut him off from the capital. 
Churchill was for advancing. James was inclined to 
take the advice of the latter, and was on the Disaffection 
point of proceeding to Warminster, where spreads. 



144 The Fall of the Stuarts, d^c. a.d. 

Kirke and Trelawny were stationed with their regiments, 
when a sudden attack of bleeding at the nose detained 
him in his lodgings. Had he set out, he would have 
found himself betrayed into William's hands. During 
the succeeding night Churchill and Grafton deserted, and 
with Kirke and Trelawny and their regiments joined 
William. On the morning of the 25th, James and his 
troops were in full retreat towards London. 

Prince George of Denmark, Anne's husband, had 
accompanied James. On reaching Andover, he and 

the Duke of Ormond supped with the king. 
George Before the next morning both were miles 

and PriUcess away on their road to join William. The 
the^kineT^^ king was Icss hurt by their defection than 

by that of his old favorite and protege 
Churchill, but he had yet to learn thefurther grief the latter 
had prepared for him. On reaching London on the 27th 
he found that his daughter, the Princess Anne, had on 
the previous night, accompanied by Lady Churchill, 
and escorted by the bishop of London, set out to join 
the insurgents under Danby at Nottingham. The 
unhappy king now fairly broke down. " God only can 
help me, for my own children have forsaken me,'' he 
exclaimed. 

London was in an uproar. On the afternoon of the 
27th a council of peers, temporal and spiritual, was held at 
James offers Whitehall. Jamcs announced that now the 
concessions, aspcct of affairs had changed. He said that 
he had declined to accede to their petition before his de- 
parture for Sahsbury, but that now he would do so. A 
parliament should be summoned to meet on the 15th of 
January, a free pardon should be granted to all now in 
rebellion, and a commission should be appointed to treat 
with William. As an earnest of the change in his conduct. 



1 688. Collapse of the Court Party. 145 

James dismissed Sir Edward Hales, the papist, from his 
office as lieutenant of the Tower. Barillon, however, who 
was in James' secret confidence, wrote to 
Lewis that all Tames' promises were but a \^\ ^^ 

•^ ^ insincere. 

feint, and that he intended going over to 
Ireland, after he had sent his wife and child to Lewis for 
protection. Some days before, James had ordered Dart- 
mouth to convey the infant prince in his fleet from 
Portsmouth to France, but Dartmouth had refused to obey, 
pointing out to the king the evil consequences of such a 
step. 

In the meantime the commissioners accredited by 
James to William proceeded to Hungerford, where the 
prince's army was encamped. A slight skir- 
mish had taken place between the king's between the 

T • 1 ^ 1 TTTMT » J 1 1 commissioners 

Irish troops and William s advanced guard of James and 
near Reading. In this the temper of the William. 
English had been conclusively shown, for the townspeople 
of Reading had joined the Dutch in attacking the Irish, 
declaring the latter to be the natural enemies of English- 
men. The terms which the commissioners agreed on with 
William were ; that the latter should halt his troops twenty 
miles to the westward of London, that the troops of 
James should be removed an equal distance to the east, 
that Romanists should be dismissed from office, and that 
the Tower and Tibury Fort should be placed in the hands 
of the Londoners. 

Whilst the conference was taking place at Hunger- 
ford, the queen and the infant prince were 
(December loth) placed on board a vessel and her child 
lying in the Thames, and, favored by a fair ^^'^^p^- 
wind, were well on their voyage to France. 

On the evening of the loth James learnt that the queen 
and his son had been got off safely. Early on the morn- 

L 



146 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. 

ing of the I ith he secretly left his palace, and, 

James mes. ° , •' r- » » 

accompanied by Sir Edward Hales, took a 
wherry, crossed the river, throwing into it the Great Seal, 
and made the best of his way to Sheerness. 

Feversham had been ordered by James to disband his 

soldiers. The London mob, hearing of the 
Riots in king's flight, and no longer in fear of the 

troops, began to riot. The Romish chapels 
were pulled down, the houses of ambassadors w^ere 
pillaged. Sunderland and Father Petre were sought for, 
but without success, for they had previously left the king- 
dom ; but Jeffreys was caught, disguised as a sailor, in a 
low public house at Wapping, and was handed over to 
the lord-mayor, who placed him in the Tower. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE INTERREGNUM, AND EVENTS IN SCOTLAND, IRELAND, 
AND ON THE CONTINENT. 

Section I. — James quits England. 

The peers who happened to be in London, amongst 

whom were archbishop Sancroft and Halifax, met at 

the Guildhall, in association with the lord 

A.D. 1688. , , - 

Measures mayor and aldermen, to concert measures 

serve pea^e^' for the public safety. They secured the 
Tower, and despatched messengers to Wil- 
liam, urging him to come to London without delay. 
They also sent instructions to Lord Dartmouth, for- 
bidding him to engage with the Dutch fleet, and enjoin- 
ing him to dismiss all Popish officers under him. 



1 688. James quits England. 147 

James had unfortunately, been stopped near Sheer- 
ness by the Kentish fishermen. They thought he was a 
fugitive of importance, perhaps the hated Father Petre, 
the Jesuit. The Earl of Winchilsea chanced to be at 
Canterbury, and heard that a great per- ^ 

•' . or- James 

sonage had been detained. He hurried to brought back 
Sheerness, and found the king in the hands 
of a rough and ill-disposed mob. He immediately sent 
a messenger to the provisional government in London. 
Feversham was ordered to take a troop of Life Guards 
to protect the king, and to bring him to London. This 
detention of James was most inopportune, for to it mainly 
is owing the rise of the Jacobite party in England. If 
James had got clear away, it would have been held by 
the Tories and the believers in the "divine right," that 
the king had deserted his people, and that therefore the 
people were set free from their allegiance, and were at 
liberty'to take any steps to provide for the security of ttie 
nation. But the fact that James was brought back to 
London, escorted by troops, and the events which fol- 
lowed, together gave a color to the statement that he 
was ultimately driven away by a faction ; and Bancroft 
showed that the king's return in his opinion altered the 
position of affairs, for on hearing that James was in Eng- 
land, he at once absented himself from the council It 
was on the 17th of December that James re-entered 
London and took up his abode at Whitehall. 

William had already reached Windsor when the news 
of James' return was brought him. Soon after. Lord 
Feversham arrived with a letter from James ^j-j^g ^ ^j^ ^^ 
to William, proposing a conference. William December at 

^ ^ 1-1 Windsor. 

at once declined, but he detamed Feversham 

with him, and sent his refusal by Zulestein, one of his 

most trusted Dutch officers. Halifax and the majority 



148 The Fall of the Stuarts, &'c. a.d. 

of those peers who had formed the provisional govern- 
ment also hurried to Windsor to meet William. The 
state of affairs was critical. William desired the peers 
to consult together, but declined to be present at their 
deliberation, requesting them, however, to let him know 
at once the result. The conclusion at which they ar- 
rived was that, as the preliminary to any settlement of 
affairs, James must be requested to leave London. 

William thought the demand a proper one, and told 
Halifax and two other peers to take it to the king. Ham 
House, near Richmond, was proposed to James as a 
suitable residence. 

It was at this juncture that Lord Clarendon, James' 
brother-in law, who had followed his son's example in 
LordCiaren- deserting James, requested a short inter- 
^'^K^r-^^^'^^^ view with William, and used every argument 

to William. •' ° 

to induce William to place James in secure 
confinement, urging as one reason that it was the only 
means of preserving tranquillity in Ireland, and of pre- 
venting the utter extinction of the Protestants in that 
island. But William resolutely refused to put any per- 
sonal restraint on his wife's father. 

Early on the morning of the i8th, James was aroused 

by the arrival of the three peers from Wind- 

cStes Ro- sor. He refused to go to Ham, but said he 

Chester as a would prefer Rochester as a residence. 

residence. ^ 

William was glad enough to give his con- 
sent, for Rochester was a convenient place from which 
James might make his escape, and his voluntary flight 
would remove many difficulties from William's path. 
Whilst James was proceeding down the River to Ro- 
chester, William entered London, guarded 

William s . . T-N 1 

entry into by the Bhtish soldicrs m the Dutch pay, 

and took up his abode at St. James*. His 



1 688. James quits England. 149 

entry was a triumphant one. Orange ribbons and orange 
flags were everywhere displayed. All the persons of 
consequence in London hastened to pay him their re- 
spects. But now the difficulty arose how to provide for 
a temporary government. It was proposed to William, 
and agreed to by him, that a " Convention " should be 
summoned. Accordingly the House of 
Lords was convoked, and a second Convention 

summoned. 

house was formed of all those who had sat 
in any of Charles' Parliaments, and of the lord mayor, 
aldermen, and fifty of the common council of London. 
Both Houses were unanimous in requesting William tG 
administer the government for a time, and to issue circu- 
lar letters to the counties and boroughs to send up repre- 
sentatives to a Convention, which was to meet on Janu- 
ary 22, 1689. 

On the 22d of December, James, with four compan- 
ions, escaped from Rochester. They sailed 

James at 

down the Medway in a small boat, boarded length es- 
a vessel in the Thames, and in three days cape;,. 
James had joined his wife and infant child at St. Ger- 
mains, in France. Personal fear hurried him to fly. His 
father's fate was before his eyes. Bancroft prayed him 
to remain ; Graham of Claverhouse, who had been by 
him created Viscount Dundee, wrote to tell him he was 
coming to his succor with a Scotch army ; but both en- 
treaty and proffered help were without avail. The 
events of the last few days had completely unnerved 
him, and without letting his adherents know of his reso- 
lution, he fled to the protection of Lewis XIV. On the 
next day Barillon was ordered by William 
to leave England within twenty-four hours. Barillon dis- 

° •' missed. 

In vain he pleaded ambassadorial rights. 

William would tolerate no spy on his conduct, and the 



150 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c. a.d. 

wily and able envoy unwillingly set off for his native 
land. 

Section II. — The Convention. 

On January 22, 1689 the Convention met. In the 
Lower House it was carried, after a slight opposition 

from the Tories : (i.) That King James hav- 
vote the ^"^Z cndeavored to subvert the constitution 

cant"^ ^^' °^ ^^ kingdom, by breaking the original 

contract between king and people, and by 
the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons having 
violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn 
himself out of the kingdom, has abdicated the govern- 
ment, and that the throne is thereby vacant, (ii.) That 
it hath been found by experience inconsistent with the 
safety and welfare of this Protestant kingdom to be 
governed by a Popish prince. 

But in the Upper House the Tories had more weight, 
and they again recurred to their belief in the doctrine of 

passive obedience, and of the indefeasible 
Lords dis- tenure of the crown. The Lords, therefore, 

agree. ' ' 

although they agreed to the second resolu- 
tion of the Commons, sent back the first one with the 
word "abdicated" altered into " deserted," and with 
the clause declaring the throne vacant struck out. 

In this dilemma a Conference was held between the 
Committees of the two Houses. It is noteworthy that 
^ ^ in the i6th and 17th centuries a spirit of 

Conference . . . *■ , 

between the compromisc both in religious and political 

two Houses. rr ■ c^ i ^ i • ^ , 

affairs was often prevalent, whereas, m later 
times, principles are pushed to their limits. And the 
Conference of 1689 illustrates this. It is also remarka- 
ble for the self-control and patriotic feeling displayed 
by both parties. It would seem as if William's spirit 



1689. The Convention. 151 

of stern determination to do what he thought to be his 
duty had rekindled again in English statesmen the same 
spirit. Both Whigs and Tories appeared to feel that 
each must yield cherished convictions rather than im- 
peril the State. 

The deliberations of the Conference resulted in an 
offer of the regency to William, and the crown to 
Mary, but this was met by William's refusal, and by the 
assertion of Mary ( who had now joined her husband ) 
that she would not reign except in conjunction with 
him. 

Eventually, on the 13th of February, the crown was 
offered to William and Mary jointly, and accepted by 
them. This offer was accompanied by the famous " de- 
claration of rights, " presented by both 1 r ti n 
Houses, and acccepted by William. The of Rights, 
draught of the declaration was made by So- 
mers, who had already gained a reputation by his speech 
in defence of the bishops. The declaration is one of the 
great events in the constitutional history of England. It 
is an assertion of the "true, ancient, and indubitable 
rights of the people of this realm. " It declared : 

( i. ) That the making or suspending laws without 

consent of Parliament is illegal ; 
( ii. ) That the exercise of the dispensing power is 

illegal ; 
( iii. ) That the Ecclesiastical Commission Court, 

and other such like courts, are illegal ; 
( iv. ). That levying money, without consent of 

Parliament, is illegal ; 
( V. ) That it is lawful to petition the sovereign ; 
( vi. ) That the maintenance of a standing army 

without consent of Parliament is illegal ; 
( vii. ) That it is lawful to keep arms ; 



152 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. 

( viii. ) That elections of members of Parliament 

must be free ; 
( ix. That there must be freedom of debate in Par- 
liament ; 
( X. ) That excessive bail should never be demand- 
ed ; 
( xi. ) That juries should be impanelled and returned 

in every trial : 
( xii. ) That grants of estates as forfeited, before con- 
viction of the offender, are illegal ; 
( xiii. ) That Parliament should be held frequently. 

It concluded, that " they ( the people of this realm ) do 
claim, demand, and insist upon, all and singular the 
premises, as their undoubted rights and liberties." 

By this declaration, therefore, the rights of personal 
security, or personal liberty, and of private property 
were claimed by the people, and admitted by the 
crown. 

Section III. — The Revolution in Scotland. 

At the first prospect of invasion from Holland, James 
had ordered the regiments on duty in Scotland to march 
_ , southward. The withdrawal of the troops 

Disturb- . ,, , , , 1 • • 

ancesin was followed by outbreaks m various parts. 

In Glasgow, the covenanters rose, and pro- 
claimed the Prince of Orange king. In Edinburgh riots 
broke out. The chapel of Holyrood Palace was dis- 
mantled, and the Romish bishops and priests fled in fear 
for their lives. 

On hearing that William had entered into London, the 
leading Whigs, under the Duke of Hamilton, repaired 
thither, and had an interview with him. He invited them 



i6Sg. The Revolution in Scotland. 153 

to meet in Convention. This they accord- 
ingly did, and on January 9, 1689, it was Convention 
resolved to request William to summon a 
meeting of the Scottish Estates for the 14th of March, 
and in the interim to administer to the government. To 
this William consented. 

The Estates of Scotland met on the appointed day. 
All the bishops, and a great number of the peers were 
adherents of Tames. After a stormy debate, 

/ ^ Meeting of 

the Duke of Hamilton was elected presi- the Scotch 
dent. But the minority (Jacobites) was a 
large one. 

With an eye to any future change, and in order to pre- 
serve their titles and estates, many of the Scotch nobility 
now adopted a singular expedient which remained in vogue 
for some years after. The head of the house joined one 
party, whilst the heir threw in his fortunes with the other. 

The Duke of Gordon still held Edinburgh Castle for 
James, and when the minority found it hopeless to carry 
their measures, he proposed they should with him with- 
draw from Edinburgh and hold a rival Con- 
vention at Stirling. But these intentions disaffected 
were discovered, many Jacobites were ar- 
rested, and many others, amongst them Viscount Dundee, 
escaped to the Highlands. 

In the end, the crown was offered to William and 
Mary on the same terms on which it had ^, 

•' 1 he crown 

been offered by the English Convention. of Scotland 
The offer was accompanied by a claim of Mnifamand 
rights, almost identical with the English de- Mary, 
claration, but containing the additional clause, that 
" prelacy was a great and insupportable grievance." 

On April 11, 1689, William and Mary were solemnly 
proclaimed at the Cross of Edinburgh. 



154 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. 

It was high time some form of government should be 
settled, for, throughout the Lowlands, scenes of mob vio- 
lence were daily witnessed. The Presbyterians, so long 
down-trodden, rose in many a parish. The 

The rabbling. . , . 

Episcopal clergy were ejected, m some cases 
with bloodshed. The " rabbling," as it is called in Scotch 
history, continued for some months, until the Presbyte- 
rian Church was reinstated by law as the Estabhshed 
Church of Scotland, in June, 1690. 



Section IV. — The Revolution in Ireland. 

In Ireland, the Revolution made but little progress. 

Tyrconnel had disarmed all the Protestants, 

Tyrconnei's except those in the North. He had a large 

measures. " ° 

force of 20,000 men under arms, and of this 
force all the officers were trustworthy and Papists. He 
had filled the corporations of the towns with adherents 
of James. He had shown himself to be, as ever, tyran- 
nical and unscrupulous. It was universally believed by 
the Protestants that a general massacre, a second St. 
Bartholomew, was intended. Even a day, December 9, 
was, they thought, fixed for the expected outbreak. The 

garrison of Londonderry had been tempo- 
^fPro?elti°tr ^^"'^^y withdrawn. On December 8, Lord 

Antrim arrived in command of 12,000 
soldiers, to form the new garrison. Without any warn- 
ing, the Protestant apprentices (" the prentice boys of 
Derry,") shut the gates of the city in his face. The in- 
habitants, in spite of the entreaties of the bishop and of 
the town council, refused to allow them to be opened. 
Antrim was compelled to withdraw. Thus one rallying- 
point was gained for the opponents of James. Another 
was found in Enniskillen, sixty miles south of Londonder- 



1 688. Devastation of the Palatinate, 155 

ry. Into these two towns poured all the Protestants 
from the surrounding districts. 

With these two exceptions, the boast of Tyrconnel 
that Ireland was true, was well founded. In ^^ . , . , 

Native Irish 

order, however, still further to increase his called to 
forces, he called on the native Irish to join 
his standard. As many as 50,000 are said to have 
obeyed his summons, and to have submitted to drill ; 
and 50,000 more to have roamed about the country, sol- 
diers in name, but robbers in reality. 



Section V. — Devastation of the Palatinate. 

We have seen how Lewis withdrew his troops from 
Flanders in order to increase his forces on , . r 

r • c T^ _, Lewis forms 

the north-eastern frontier of France. Two two corps 
corps d'armee were formed. The one nom- ar^ee. 
inally under the command of the Dauphin, eldest son 
of Lewis, with whom served Marshal Duras and the 
great Vauban, the other under the Marquis of Boufflers. 

The first of these armies, early in October, 1688, un- 
dertook the siege of Philipsburg, which rpj^^j^ ^^^, 
place surrendered after a month. It then cess, 
marched to Manheim, at the confluence of the Neckar 
and Rhine. Manheim immediately submitted, and the 
French thus became masters of the Palatinate on the 
right bank of the Rhine. The second corps d'armee, 
under Boufflers, took possession of Mainz, Worms, 
Speyer, Kreutznach, and the whole of the possessions 
of the Elector Palatine on the left bank of the Rhine. 
Then it ascended the Moselle and captured Trier 
(Treves). 

When Lewis heard that William had made good his 
descent on England, he declared war against the United 



156 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. 

Lewis' forces Provinces, November 28, 1688. The Dutch 

inadequate. . . 

therefore were now actively engaged against 
him. Germany was arming in hot haste. The Diet 
had assembled at Regensburg (Ratisbon). The forces 
which France had at its disposal were not numerous 
enough to hold all the conquests they had so rapidly- 
made. 

Louvois accordingly advised Lewis to destroy the cap- 
tured towns rather than allow them to be re-occupied by 
the enemy. Lewis was troubled by no scruples when h*» 
fancied that his interests, or ambitious schemes, were en- 
dangered. He took a step which added another stain 
to his name, and which caused France and Frenchmen 
to be hated by Germans. The French generals were 
Palatinate Ordered to burn every town and village of 
ravaged. t^^ Palatinate, and to devastate the coun- 

try with fire and sword, Heidelberg Castle, the magnif- 
icent seat of the Elector Palatine, was committed to the 
flames ; Manheim, Speyer, Worms, Oppenheim. Bingen, 
in rapid succession, shared its fate. Cathedrals, churches, 
public buildings, monuments of art, the work of succes- 
sive rulers, from imperial Rome downwards, were not 
spared. More than forty towns and large villages be- 
came blackened ruins. Crops, vineyards, orchards, 
were alike destroyed, and a rich and populous district 
was turned into a desert. One hundred thousand fami- 
lies wandered homeless in search of refuge from their 
implacable foes. 

The Diet, in declaring war, January 24, 1689, sum- 
Resolutions moned all Germany to vengeance. The 
of the Diet. Emperor denounced Lewis as the enemy of 
all Christendom, and called on Europe to join in a cru- 
sade against him, as against a Turk and an infidel. 
Frenchmen were put under the ban of the Empire ; all 



1 688. Devastatio7t of the Palatinate. ' 157 

commerce with France was interdicted ; all French sub- 
jects, even those in domestic service, were expelled from 
Germany, 

Lewis' conduct is indefensible. Voltaire, the great 
French philosopher, who lived in the next century, in 
his "Age of Lewis XIV.," excuses him by suggesting 
that he would not have given such barbarous orders if 
he could have seen with his own eyes the misery he 
caused. Other French writers claim that j^g excuse 
the law of war permits any action which for Lewis, 
can injure the enemy. But if this principle were ad* 
mitted, assassins might be employed to take the life of 
the opposing general. No civilized nation can make 
war in such fashion. A fortified town which is captured 
may be dismantled, not burnt; — a defenceless village 
must be spared. 

It was at this juncture that James arrived at St. Ger- 
mains. Lewis received him with studied expressions of 
hospitality. He begged him, so long as he 

111 1 . •■,■,- James 

would honor him with his company, to re- arrives at St. 
ceive a yearly allowance of ^45,000 ; he sent ermams. 
him ;^io,ooo for his immediate use. He ordered his 
courtiers to treat him and his queen with every mark of 
respect due to crowned heads. But James himself in- 
spired those brought into contact with him with no 
respect. The French nobles commiserated the queen, 
but they remarked of James that it was no wonder he 
wsis at St. Germains and his son-in-law at St. James*. 



158 The Fall of the Stuarts y &'c. a.d. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE FIRST YEAR OF THE REIGN OF WILLIAM AND MARY. 

Section I. — The Ministry. 

William and Mary were not as yet secure on the 
throne ; Scotland and Ireland were in arms, and a large 
party in England was by no means satisfied 
5'wiiiiaS's with its Dutch sovereign. WiUiam, although 
position 2. wise and prudent man, did not make 

increased by -^ _ 

his personal many foends. His manners were cold ; he 
^ ■ was ungenial and leaned too much on his 

Dutch comrades, Schomberg, Bentinck, and Zulestein. 
He had this excuse, that they were tried friends whom he 
knew he could trust : and he felt no such certainty about 
English statesmen. He suffered also from asthma, a 
wearying complaint, which made him often petulant. 
He was, in fact, unpopular. On the other hand, fortu- 
nately, Mary was by nature formed to attract 
p^mJlar affection and loyalty. She was handsome, 

and her manners were winning. Her greatest 
pleasure was in relieving distress, and her private cha- 
racter was irreproachable. No scandalous tale was ever 
told of her. 

William chose the leading men of each party to form 
his first ministry or cabinet. But he reserved one im- 
„,.„. , . portant post, that of foreign minister, for 

William his ^ ^ 1 • • i n j 

own foreign himself. Throughout his reign he allowed 
minister. ^^ minister to regulate the foreign policy of 

England. Parhament often interfered, much to William's 
disgust, but no " secretary for foreign affairs," with nar- 
row or insular policy, was permitted by WiUiam to en- 



1689. Proceedi?igs in Parlia??ient. 159 

danger the grand object of his life, the lessening the 
power of France, so that it should no longer be danger- 
ous to the liberties and progress of any European nation, 
or to the Protestant faith. 

William gave the presidency of the council to Danby, 
created Marquis of Carmarthen. Danby re- William's 

presented the Tories of the earlier part of ^''st mi- 

nisteis. 

Charles II. 's reign, but had nevertheless 
shown that such principles were not incompatible with 
patriotism. Halifax, the treasurer, was made privy seal. 
Lord Shrewsbury, the young rising Whig, one of the 
'' seven patriots," was made one secretary of state ; the 
other secretaryship was given to Lord Nottingham, a 
Tory, by whose appointment William hoped to gratify 
the Tory country-gentlemen and the High Church 
clergy. Admiral Herbert had charge of the navy. The 
Great Seal was not filled, but put in commission. New 
judges were appointed, and Somers was created solicitor- 
general. All the subordinate posts were carefully divided 
by William between the Whigs and Tories. To Wil- 
liam's faithful Dutch followers were given the most im- 
portant posts in the household. Such an arrangement 
was natural, but nevertheless caused great jealousy 
amongst English courtiers. 

Section II. — Proceedings in Parliament. 
The Nonjurors. 

On February 18 the Convention sat as a Parhament. 
The first bill passed by both Houses was one 
which enacted that the Convention of Jan. declared a 
22 represented the two Houses of Parliament, Parliament. 
and that its proceedings were as valid as if the Houses 
had been summoned in the usual manner. The bill was 
accompanied by a clause declaring that no member 



i6o The Fall of the Stuarts^ &'c. a.d. 

^ , , should sit or vote in either House, after the 

Oaths of ■ r 

allegiance to ensuing first of March, who had not taken 

the prescribed oath of allegiance to King 
William and Queen Mary. All office-holders, whether 
lay or spiritual, were ordered to take the oath before 
August I. If they declined to do so, they were, if lay- 
men, to lose their office ; if clergymen, they were to be 
suspended for six months, and if they, at the end of that 
time, still refused to take the oath, they were to be de- 
prived of their benefices. 

On March i a call of both Houses was made for the 

purpose of administering the oath to the members. The 

archbishop of Canterbury and seven bishops 

The Non- absented themselves from the House of 

jurois. 

Lords. Their example was followed by 
many of the inferior clergy, when the day (August i) 
came on which they were to be sworn. Six bishops and 
about 400 clergy were eventually (169 1) deprived of their 
livings in accordance with the act of Parliament. The 
nonjurors, as they were called, became henceforth a dis- 
turbing element in the settlement of the kingdom. Their 
conscientious scruples, and the sacrifices they made in 
following them, deserve a certain amount of our con- 
sideration ; but their tenets were dangerous to the liber- 
ties of the country. They believed James Stuart to be 
their lawful sovereign, and strove for his restoration. 
They held doctrines which involved extravagant views 
of sacerdotal power, and which would, if carried out, 
have undone the work of more than a century of Church 
reform. 

James II. had, by favoring Papists, done much to unite 
Churchmen and Nonconformists. A school of theolo- 
gians had also for the last forty years flourished at Cam- 
bridge (belonging for the most part to Emmanuel College) 



1689. Proceedings in Parliament. t6i 

who taught that a national church should be a compre- 
hensive one, and that the church itself ex- ^ 

. . , - , . , . Comprehen- 

isted not in " conicidence of doctrine, but in sionand 

c • •, ■>. rr«i. • •■• 1 J Toleration 

communion of spirn. Iheir writings had Bills. 
from the first attracted attention, and latter- 
ly had gained some few converts. Various schemes of 
comprehension were advocated by politicians and theo- 
logians. William was himself interested. He had noth- 
ing of the religious bigot in his composition. He had no 
desire to persecute a man for his religious opinions, nor 
to confine within narrow limits the creed of the nation. 
He therefore heartily concurred in two bills, the Compre- 
hension Bill and the Toleration Bill, being laid before 
the Houses of Parliament. 

But the country was not as yet prepared to enlarge the 
basis of the English Church. Freedom of 

,. . , , , . , , , , . Comprehen- 

religious thought and opinion, although it ^on Bill 
has always maintained a struggling existence 
in the English Church, had not as yet become popular. 
After various vicissitudes in Parliament, the Comprehen- 
sion Bill was eventually referred to Convocation, the 
parliament of the clergy, and there it expired. 

A better fate awaited the Toleration Bill, for it was 
passed without much difficulty. The bill, „ . 

^ , ^ ' Toleration 

inasmuch as it only exempted those who Bill passes, 
had taken the new oaths of allegiance and 
supremacy from any penalties incurred for non-attend- 
ance at church, may appear to us to accord a very small 
amount of religious liberty. It was nevertheless a great 
step towards freedom of religious opinion. 

The Commons had to provide money for the exigen- 
cies of the Government. It was hoped by William that 
the sums voted to James for life would be Appropria- 
continued to himself and Mary. But the su"lfes 

M 



1 62 The Fall of the Stuarts, &*c. a.d. 

Lower House at once showed that it had no such 
intention. It did not interfere with the crown lands, 
the hereditary revenue of the sovereign. It voted a sum 
of money for immediate necessities, and repaid the 
Dutch their expenses of 600,000/. But it ordered the Ex- 
chequer to furnish annual estimates of expenditure and 
income, it determined that supplies should be annually 
voted in accordance with these estimates ; that each par- 
ticular estimate should have a certain sum appropriated 
to it ; and that no sum should be expended on any other 
purpose than that for which it had been voted. This 
principle of the appropriation of supplies had been gen- 
erally the practice of the parliaments of Charles II., al- 
though not of that of James II., but it was now formally 
declared to be necessary, and annually in every session 
from that time until the present the supplies have been 
appropriated. The principle is one of the great safe- 
guards against the encroachments of the crown, or of an 
administration which cannot command a parliamentary 
majority. 

Early in the Session, a Mutiny Bill was passed. The 
necessity for it arose thus. A Scotch regiment ( now the 
1st Royals ) had been ordered to embark for Holland, 
,, . T..» and Schomberg, WiUiam's trusted Dutch 

Mutiny Bill. ° . 

general, was nominated to be its colonel. 
This nomination William had intended as a compliment 
to the regiment. But the officers were indignant, and, 
moreover, claimed that their regiment was under the 
control of the Scotch, and not the English government. 
On the march for the east coast the regiment mutinied 
and broke off for Scotland. Overtaken by superior 
forces in Lincolnshire, and surrounded, it surrendered. 
But there was no law by which the mutineers could be 
punished. The existence of a standing army without 



1689. Proceedings in Parliament. 163 

the consent of Parliament, as reasserted in the Declara- 
tion of Rights, was illegal. Consequently, unless this 
consent were given, no soldier could be punished, nor 
could a court martial be held. For the necessary con- 
trol of the army, Parliament, therefore passed a Mutiny 
Bill ; the passing of such a bill showing its consent to the 
maintenance of a standing army. The bill conferred on 
officers of the army the power of enforcing discipline, 
and of billeting the soldiers in private houses. But 
this power was granted for one year only, and each year 
Parliament renews this power. 

- Parliament, therefore, annually grants money for the 
payment of an army, and annually passes a bill for the 
discipline of that army, so that a sovereign cannot pay 
an army, nor raise an army, without consent of Parlia- 
ment. The very existence of an army, therefore, de- 
pends on the existence of Parliament, so that the sove- 
reign must take care, if he wishes to retain an army, that 
Parliament holds a session each year, and that after the 
dissolution of a Parliament, a year should not elapse be- 
fore a new Parliament meets. In the Mutiny Bill, 
therefore, is found another great constitutional safe- 
guard. 

The most important Act passed by this Parliament 
was the Bill of Rights. It confirmed the various clauses 
of the Declaration of Rights, and embodied them in 
the bill. It also settled the succession of 
the crown, first on William and Mary, Rights 

jointly, then on the survivor of either, then passed. 

on the heirs of Mary ; in default of any heirs of Mary, 
it was settled on the Princess Anne and her heirs ; and 
in default of these on the heirs of William by any sub- 
sequent marriage. The bill also provided that no papist 
should ever hold the crown. By the Bill of Rights the 



164 The Fall of the Stuarts i &*c. a.d. 

doctrine of Divine Right received its death-blow. From 
the passing of this bill, the sovereign of England reigns 
solely by virtue of an act of Parliament. 

Carmarthen, (Danby), the Tory lord president, had in- 
troduced a bill of general indemnity. William was anx- 
ious it should be carried. Parliament had reversed the 
T.-n ,T attainders and sentences passed on the 

Bill of In- . 

cemuity Whig sufferers m the last two reigns, and 

William trusted that no new prosecutions 
would be instituted against those who had opposed the 
revolution which had placed him and Mary on the throne. 
The Whigs were not so forgiving. They had now the 
upper hand, and were not inclined to mercy. So the 
Bill of Indemnity was dropped. 

It must be remarked that the great constitutional rights 
estabhshed in the first Parliament of William and Mary 
were not forced from an unwilling monarch, as had been 
the case with all concessions to the liberty of the subject 
made by the Tudor and Stuart sovereigns. 

The Parliament was finally dissolved in January, 1690, 
its last days being marked by a struggle which had a 
great effect on the elections for the next Parliament. The 
Whigs, becoming daily more uncomprising 
ners dis- ' ^.nd more vindictive, introduced a bill to ex- 
Sie^wwgs elude from any municipal office for a period 
of seven years, any functionary who had 
been a party to the remodelling of a corporation, or to 
the surrendering the franchises of a borough. The 
rights of nearly every corporate town had under Tory 
municipalities been thus tampered with. If the bill, as 
proposed by the Whigs, had passed, all the leading 
Tories in the English boroughs would have been de- 
barred from office. After stormy debates the bill was 
rejected, but the vindictiveness displayed by the Whigs 



1 689. Scotland in i68g. 1 5 

caused not merely a strong reaction against tliem, but 
even alienated the more moderate of their own party. 

Section III. — Scotland in i68g. 

The Earl of Argyle and two other commissioners pro- 
ceeded in April from Scotland to London to tender the 
coronation oath to William and Mary. The last clause 
of the oath was " that they would be careful to root out 
all heretics and enemies to the true worship of God." 
William objected. He said "he would not lay himself 
under any obligation to be a persecutor." The commis- 
sioners assured him that neither the words 
of the oath nor the laws of Scotland re- ofreUgfouf 
quired this. On this assurance William and parties'"^''^^^ 
Mary took the oaths. But the " rabbling " 
of the episcopal clergy, and the continual occurrence of 
acts of mob violence committed under the guise of re- 
ligion, showed William that his opinions about toleration 
were neither understood nor shared in by his Scotch 
subjects. Nor was less animosity exhibited by the con- 
flicting political parties. Whig and Tory, puritan and 
episcopalian alike, gave vent to the most bitter feelings 
of hatred. Dundee, who, to avoid arrest, ^, „. , 

. . The High- 

had fled from Edinburgh mto the High- landers 

lands, there raised the standard of James. theslanda"d 

The Highlanders knew but little of passing of James. 

events. Uncivilized, cut off from communication with 

the more fortunate Lowlands by want of roads, forced 

to live by stealing, agriculture being almost unknown 

amongst them, they had come to elevate robbery into 

an accomplishment and a virtue. The only law which 

bound them was obedience to their chief. By their 

Lowland neighbors they were regarded with disgust not 

unmixed with fear. Their chieftains quarrelled and 



106 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c, a.d. 

fought amongst themselves either for their possessions 
or for supremacy. At one time the Macdonalds had 
been the strongest clan ; but they had been deprived of 
their leadership by the Campbells, the chieftain of whom 
was Argyle. The fall of Argyle had been hailed with 
delight by those clans who opposed the Campbell. The 
event of William of Orange therefore meant for them 
the return of Argyle and the restoration of the power of 
the Campbells. Without therefore caring for James, 
without either knowing, or troubling themselves to look 
into the political or religious aspects of the Revolution, 
the Macdonalds, the Macnaghtens, the Macleans, the 
Camerons, eagerly joined Dundee, in order to fight 
against their ancient antagonists, the Campbells. Tiio 
River Garry, before its junction with the Tay, flows 
through a succession of valleys, from the last of which 
it emerges through the pass of Killiecrankie. 
^"mair'"^'^ Inside this pass, commanding the vale, 
stood Blair Castle, the seat of the Marquis 
of Athol. This important and commanding position had 
been seized by Dundee's followers. 

General Mackay commanded William's army in Scot- 
land. His troops consisted of the three 
strength of Scotch regiments, which had been serving 
Mackay.^""^ in Holland, one English regiment (now the 
13th Foot), two regiments of Scotch militia, 
and a small body of cavalry, — in all about 3,000 men. 

Dundee occupied Blair with 3,000 Highlanders, and 
300 Irish from Ulster. 

Mackay was desirous of at once quashing the insur- 
rection before all the Highlands rose in arms. He was 
fully aware of the want of cohesion in irregular troops, 
and knew that a blow speedily struck might at once dis- 
perse them. Putting his soldiers, therefore, at once in 



I 



1689- Scotland in i68g. 167 

motion, he pressed on to meet Dundee. It was at the 
close of a long and weary march, that, on July 27, 
Mackay neared the pass of Killiecrankie. Instead of 
halting his men, and ordering the fresher Fight of Kii- 
troops to the front, he pushed them on iiecrankie. 
through the narrow defile, hoping to gain the broader 
valley at its other extremity before the Highlanders 
were aware of his approach. The greater part had 
got through the pass, and, wearied and footsore, had 
thrown themselves on the ground, when musket shots 
were heard. Mackay hastily formed his troops, and 
prepared as quickly as he could for battle. Dundee, 
however, gave him but little time for preparation. Put- 
ting himself at the head of his wild followers, he gave 
the order to charge. The Highlanders, throwing dowii 
their muskets and their plaids, and with their broad- 
swords in their hands, with a loud shout sprang at the 
Southerners. Mackay's troops, tired, and with their 
cumbrous weapons of defence not yet made ready (for 
the muskets and bayonets of those days were not 
quickly loaded or fixed), began to waver. A few mo- 
ments of struggle ensued, and then all was over. In a 
headlong flight they rushed down the pass, sweeping 
away with them their own cavalry and rearguard For 
four-and-twenty hours the Highlanders pursued, and the 
disheartened fugitives found no rest until they had 
reached Castle Drummond. 

In the hour of victory a chance shot Death of 
struck down Dundee. His death caused Dundee and 

dispeision ot 

the usual bickerings among the chieftains, the High- 
and their dissensions were speedily followed 
by the dispersion of their followers. The news of the 
death of Dundee was received with delight in London, 
for it more than compensated for Mackay's defeat, and 



1 68 The Fall of the Stuarts^ ^'c, a.d. 

by the Scotch Cameronians it was regarded as a sure 
sign of the Divine approval of the cause of William 
that their cruel persecutor had been slain. 

William's Scotch ministers placed little confidence 
in Mackay ; but William judged otherwise, and, disre- 
garding his first want of success, continued him in his 
command. The insurgents still keeping the field were 

rapidly scattered. In the following spring 
cautions of Mackay built a strong fort in Invernesshire, 
^^' called Fort William, to serve as a depot of 

provisions and a point d'appuiior the regular troops, and 
he set about making roads along which military convoys 
could be moved. 

In order to ensure prompt action in Scotch matters, 

William nominated Sir John Dairy m pie of 

Dalrymple ^ . . , , • , 

and Stair, a man of great talent and mdustry, to 

be lord advocate, and attached to his own 
court Lord Melville, to advise him on Scotch matters. 
By these two men, who had William's entire confidence- 
Scotland was governed for some years. 

Section IV. — Irelandin i68g. 

Although the rapid success of the Revolution in Eng- 
land and Scotland surprised and disappointed Lewis 
XIV., he received some consolation in hearing of the 
resolute measures adopted by Tyrconnel to uphold the 
cause of James in Ireland. The life at St. Germains was 
a happy change for James. Treated with every mark of 
refined courtesy and respect, he was in no hurry to quit 
his palace for Ireland. But Tyrconnel sent him pressing 
messages. He reported that thousands were ready to 
fight for him, that they needed only his presence and a 
supply of arms to drive every Protestant and every ad- 
herent of the Prince of Orange into the sea. Lewis re- 



1689. Ireland in 1 68 g. 169 

commended, and even pressed him to go. 

iir 1 1 11 c • 1 1 ■ James leaves 

He told fames that he would not furnish him France for 

-Til 

with soldiers, as he had a sufficient number ^^ *" * 
in Ireland, but that in every other respect he would do 
his utmost for him. He accordingly supplied James 
with the most costly outfit for his personal use ; he 
ordered the Count of Avaux, a distinguished noble of his 
court, to accompany him as ambassador to Ireland ; he 
gave him arms and ammunition for 10,000 men ; he pro- 
vided him with 100,000/. in money to pay his troops ; he 
commanded the Brest fleet to convey him and his suite to 
Kinsale. Lewis, moreover, ordered the Marshal von 
Rosen, with a large number of skilled officers under him, 
to join the fleet, and to place himself and staff at James* 
disposal, in order that the rough native Irish might 
under their training be reduced to discipline. Von 
Rosen, a Livonian soldier of fortune, of coarse, brutal 
manners, but of long and varied service in war, was a 
man well fitted for his post 

On March 12 James landed at Kinsale. Thence he 
marched to Cork, being received in all the towns with 
every mark of respect. At Cork he was joined by Tyr- 
connel, who brought him cheering news of the progress 
of his cause, and reported that, except in the North, 
William had no adherents under arms, and that London- 
derry and Enniskillen were the only strong 
places that had declared for him. Tyrcon- J^"?^?' ^"'^^s 

^ ■' Dublin. 

nel told his master that these towns could 
not long hold out against the troops which, under General 
Hamilton, he had sent against them. On the 24th 
James entered Dublin amidst enthusiastic shouts of 
welcome. The streets through which he passed were 
spread with flowers and leaves of trees, and carpets and 
tapestry were hung from all the windows. 



170 The Fall of the Stuarts^ ds^c. a.d. 

Contrary to the advice of Von Rosen and Tyrconnel, 

James determined to join his army in the North. He 

thought that his presence would animate his troops, and 

„ would increase his popularity with the Irish. 

James sets on 

to join He believed that Londonderry would not 

^'^™^' stand a siege, and that it would make a strong 

impression on the conquered if he were there, as a vic- 
torious general, to share in the triumph of his arms. 

The position of the Protestants in Londonderry was 
becoming day by day more precarious. The town, en- 
closed by its crumbling walls, had already twice as many 
inmates as it had accommodation for. Its walls had no 

moat around them, and being built on gently 
London- rising ground, it was exposed to the fire of a 

besieging force. The river Foyle ran past 
the town, and about two miles lower down were two 
forts, one on each bank, Grange Fort and Charles Fort, 
commanding the approach by water. 

On April 14, two vessels with troops arrived from Eng- 
land. Lundy, the governor of Londonderry, ordered the 
officer in command not to disembark his men, for it 
was useless to attempt to hold the town, and the troops 
would only swell the number of prisoners. He had de- 
termined to play the traitor, and his council of war was 

accordingly a packed one. But the citizens 
g^vernoJ. ^ of Dcrry got intelligence of what was going 

escapes from ^^ looking from the walls saw the Eng- 

ine town. ' o ° 

lish ships slowly floating down the river. In- 
spirited by the harangues of a clergyman, George Walker, 
one of those who had taken refuge in the town, they 
determined to defend to the last their Protestant city. 
They vowed vengeance against the traitor Luudy, and 
had he not, aided by Walker, escaped, would have exe- 
cuted speedy justice on him. 



1689. Ireland in 168 g. 171 

It was at this juncture that James appeared before the 
city at the head of his army. He summoned the inhabi- 
tants to open their gates. His summons was met by a 
fire from the walls, amid cries of "No surrender!" 
Walker, a divine of the true puritan type, assisted by 
Major Baker, took direction of the defence. London- 

All the able-bodied inhabitants, 7,000 in derry 

number, were enrolled in the garrison. 
Although by the permission of James, ten thousand of 
the Protestant refugees were allowed to leave London- 
derry and return to their homes, 20,000 non-combatants 
were still left to embarrass the defenders. The city had 
provisions for about twelve days, and its cannon 
numbered but twenty. The forces of the besiegers were 
between twenty-five and thirty thousand. On April 20 
the siege began, and on the 29, James, finding the siege 
likely to be more tedious than he expected, returned to 
Dublin, leaving the French general, Maumont, to con- 
duct the operations. Soon after assuming the command, 
Maumont was killed in one of the numerous sorties of 
the garrison, and was succeeded by General Hamilton, 
who turned the siege into a blockade. 

Lewis ordered constant supplies of arms and other 
military stores to be forwarded to Ireland. Admiral 
Herbert, in command of the English fleet, heard that some 
of these, protected by a French fleet, were being landed 
in Bantry Bay. He sailed thither, and attacked the 
French while they were at anchor. His „ , , 

- ...■'.. „ , Battle of 

force was mferior and he was compelled to Bantry 

retire. He " came off with greate slaughter *^* 

and little honor." Both courts claimed the victory. At 
Dublin the Te Deum was sung, at Westminster the Com- 
mons pased a vote of thanks to Herbert. 

The Irish Parliament, convoked by James, met at 



172 The Fall of the Stuarts, &*€. a.d. 

Dublin, May 7. It repealed the Act of Settlement ; con- 
sequently English or Anglo-Irish landlords would be 
replaced by Celtic ones It passed an act vesting in 
An Irish Par- King James the property of absentees. By 
liament meets, another act the tithes were conveyed from 
the Protestant to the Roman Catholic clergy. The 
legislative independence of Ireland was asserted in 
another act. But in the Act of Attainder the Parliament 
showed most conspicuously its want of wisdom. The 
act mentioned by name some 2,500 persons, 
Act of Attain- ^lt^^ ordered them to surrender themselves 

der passed. 

before a certain day, and if they failed to do 
so, sentenced them, untried, to be hanged, drawn, and 
quartered, and their property to be confiscated. The 
list included the names of half the Irish peerage, of the 
wealthiest merchants and farmers, of the Protestant 
clergy, and most of the English settlers. The act was 
virtually a declaration of war to the knife against the 
English and the Protestants of the North of Ireland. 

Before the prorogation of the Dublin Parliament, the 

persecution of the Protestants began. The Protestant 

fellows of Trinity College were ejected from 

Persecution , . . „ , • t^ , 

of Protes- their fellowships. Protestant clergy were 
forcibly driven from their livings. The arms 
of all Protestants were seized. Avaux, the French am- 
bassador, proposed a general massacre of Protestants, 
prompted, it is thought, by his sovereign, Lewis ; but to 
this James would not consent. 

The Irish exchequer, although liberally aided by 
Lewis, was empty. To replenish it James resorted to the 
device of debasing the coinage, and trades- 
Coinage de- men refusing to accept the spurious coin 
were threatened with a visit from the pro-, 
vost-marshal. 



1689. Ireland in 1 68 g. 173 

Meanwhile the blockade of Derry dragged on its tedi- 
ous length. The defenders were reduced to great 
extremities from the scarcity of provisions. The besiegers 
had captured Forts Charles and Grange, and between 
these two forts had stretched a strong boom of fir-trees, 

at the narrowest part of the Foyle, so as to 

1 • 1- 1 1- /. /- , London- 

prevent ships ascendmg to the rehef of the derry still 

town. An English fleet arrived in Lough ^^^^^^^^^d- " 
Foyle, on June 1 5, having on board Colonel Kirke, troops, 
arm, ammunition, and provision. But no attempt was 
made to force the boom, and Kirke lay, for weeks, inac- 
tive in the Lough, whilst the defenders of Derry were 
starving. Von Rosen now succeeded Hamilton in the 
conduct of the siege. In order to increase the difficul- 
ties of the besieged, he collected the Protestants from the 
surrounding district, drove them under the walls, and 
left them there to starve, for the garrison dared not add 
to their distress by admitting more mouths into the town. 
Walker, in retaliation, threatened to hang all the pris- 
oners taken. For three days, the crowd, almost mad 
with hunger and disease, wandered round the city ; at 
the end of that time Von Rosen allowed the survivors to 
withdraw. 

But still the defenders held out, and still Kirke re- 
mained at anchor in Lough Foyle. Although each man's 
allowance of provision was reduced to the lowest point 
at which life could be sustained, yet on July 30 supply 
for two days only remained. Not more than three 
thousand of the garrison were able to stand to their 
arms, for famine had brought its companion, fever ; but 
no one breathed the word surrender. 

In England the news of the heroic defence had 
raised the strongest feelings of pity. London was 
bound by the closest ties to the Protestant city of the 



174 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. 

English North. The name Londonderry implies 

sympa. y. x\A^. Many of the great city companies 

held, and still hold, large property there. The "prodi- 
gious sloth of our fleet " excited indignation, and peremp- 
tory orders were sent to Kirke to relieve the city. 

Amongst the merchantmen attached to Kirke's fleet 
was the Mountjoy, commanded by one Browning, a 
native of Derry. Browning volunteered to make an at- 
tempt to break the boom, and persuaded another 
merchant captain to risk his ship also. Kirke 

London- , , - . , , 

derry Ordered a frigate to accompany them, and 

relieved, ^^ silence the fire of the forts and cover the 

merchantmen. The two ships, side by side, with all sail 
set, favored by a strong wind, were steered straight at 
the boom. The mass of timber first swayed, then cracked, 
then gave way, and the two ships were carried through 
on the rising tide, and Londonderry was saved. The 
gallant Browning was killed by a shot from 
blockade Fort Charles as his ship was breaking the 

raised. boom. On July 30 each fighting man of 

Derry had received half a pound of tallow and three 
quarters of a pound of salted hide ; on the 31st, the ra- 
tions served out to each one of the garrison were two 
pounds of beef and three pounds of flour. 

On August I Von Rosen raised the siege, which had 
now lasted 105 days, and with his troops retreated 
towards Strabane. 

Enniskillen was more fortunate than Londonderry ; 
it was situated on an island, in the river joining the 
upper and lower parts of Lough Erne, and therefore 
could not be invested. Nevertheless the inhabitants 
were in great peril, for 5,000 Irish were marching against 
them. On July 29 they received from Kirke timely aid, 
consisting of arms and ammunition and a few experi- 




CAMPAIGN IN IVORTII-EAST OF IRELAND 



Ruaaell ^ StrutheruJC^. 



176 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^'c. a.d. 

enced officers, at whose head was Colonel Wolseley. 
Wolseley at once determined, with all the forces he 
could muster, 3,000 only, to strike the first blow, and 
„ , , attack the Irish. He met them at the vil- 

Battle of 

Newtown lage of Newtown Butler, and gained a de- 

cisive victory over them, the gentlemen and 
yeomen composing his forces behaving with the great- 
est gallantry. On the same day on which Browning 
broke through the boom that blocked the passage of the 
Foyle, the Irish army that was to destroy the Protestants 
of Enniskillen was in rapid flight, leaving 1,500 killed 
on the field, and in the hands of the victors 400 prison- 
ers, and all their cannon and ammunition. Making the 
best of their way to the Norfh, the fugitives, on July 31, 
met, near Strabane, the army of Hamilton retreating 
from Londonderry. The news of the defeat at New- 
town Butler spread dismay through Hamilton's force, 
already dispirited. Thinking that they were about to be 
attacked on both front and rear, their retreat soon 
changed into a flight. Each town, as they passed 
through it was evacuated by its garrison, and was soon 
after occupied by Kirke's troops, so that in a few days 
the North of Ireland was again freed from James' sol- 
diers. 

Section V. — The Grand Alliance, and Campaign on 
the Continent in 1689. 

The interference of Lewis in Ireland on behalf of 
James caused William to mature his plans for a great 
Continental confederacy against France. On May 12, 
1689, William, as Stadtholder of the United Provinces, 
had entered into an offensive and defensive alliance 
with the Emperor against Lewis. On May 17, as King 
of England, he declared war against France ; and on 



1690. The Grand Alliance. 177 

December 30 joined the alliance between the Emperor 
and the Dutch. The example was followed on June 6, 
1690, by the King of Spain, and on October 20 of the 
same year, by Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy. The 
confederation was called the " Grand Alliance.''' Its 
main object was declared to be, to curb the power and 
ambition of Lewis XIV. ; and to force him to surrender 
his conquests, and to confine his territories to the limits 
agreed upon between him and the Emperor at the treaty 
of Westphalia (1648), and between France and Spain at 
the treaty of the Pyrenees (1659). The league of Augs- 
burg, which William had with so much trouble brought 
about, had now successfully developed into the Grand 
Alliance. 

The campaign of 1689 between Lewis and the Em- 
peror was marked by little of importance. 

The Emperor, although engaged on his eastern fron- 
tier with the Turks, managed nevertheless to bring an 
army of 80,000 into the field. Lewis placed campaign of 
one army in position on the Rhine, another ^^^9 in 

•' ^ (jermany. 

in the Netherlands, and a third on the 
Spanish frontier. The general result was somewhat 
favorable to the allies, for the Emperor's troops recap- 
tured Mainz and Bonn, and the French in the Nether- 
lands suffered defeat. But Lewis and Louvois had 
formed a plan which they hoped would break up the 
alliance. This was to obtain command of the Channel, 
and thus to secure the maritime supremacy „ , 

^ _ "' Naval pre- 

of Europe. All through, therefore, the winter paraiions 
of 1689, and the early part of 1690, the dock- 
yards of France were busied in building and equipping 
ships, and every French man-of-war in the Mediterra- 
nean was brought round to Brest. 



N 



178 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^'c, a.d. 

CHAPTER XV. 

WILLIAM III. AND IRELAND. 

Section I. — The English Parliament m 1690. 

On the dissolution of Parliament in January, 1690, the 
writs for a new Parliament, the second of 
Parliament William and Mary, were at once issued. 
The Tories were placed by the elections in a 
decided majority. But this result did not prove that 
the principles of the Revolution were unacceptable to the 
nation. It showed that the attempt made in the late 
Parliament by the Whigs to exclude from 
majority office the Tories who had, in their several 

boroughs, assisted James in remodelling the 
corporations, was regarded by moderate men with dis- 
favor, as being illiberal and revengeful. " The at- 
tempted exclusion provoked also," says Burnet, " all 
those whom it was to have disgraced." 

The first duty of the new Parliament, which met in 
March, was to consider the revenue. The late Parlia- 
ment had granted to the Crown money for immediate 
necessities. It was requisite that the present Parliament 
should come to some definite settlement. The hereditary 
revenue of the Crown, which had passed into the posses- 
sion of WilUam and Mary, produced annually from 400,- 
000^. to 500,000/. In the reigns of Charles and James, 
the excise and customs duties had in addition been voted 
for life to the sovereign. These duties were supposed to 
produce annually about 900,000/. William 
The Civil hoped and believed, that these would be set- 
tled on him and his queen, as had been done 



1690. The English Parliament in i6go, 179 

before. But the Parliament considered that its too great 
generosity in former days had made the Crown more in- 
dependent of Parhament than was conducive to the pub- 
lic hberty. William was much hurt. He said that he 
" who had preserved the religion and laws of England 
was less trusted by Englishmen than they who tried their 
best to destroy them." His remonstrances were, how- 
ever, not entirely without avail. The excise duties, esti- 
mated to produce about 300,000/. a year, were settled on 
William and Mary for their lives, and these, added to 
the hereditary revenue, formed the "Civil List." The 
customs duties, yielding about 600,000/. a year, were 
granted to the Crown for four years only. The Civil List 
provided for the support of the royal household, the per- 
sonal expenses of the king and queen, and the payment 
of civil offices and pensions. 

The Parliament again acknowledged William and 
Mary as joint king and queen, affirmed the legality of 
the measures of the late Parliament, and provided that 
William, whilst in England, should have the sole ad- 
ministration of the government, but that when he was 
absent Mary should rule. 

The Whigs introduced into both Houses in succession 
a Bill of Abjuration, the object of which was to deprive 
of office of every kind all persons who did 
notsolemnly abjure James as king. The first Abjuration 
bill, drawn up with extreme severity, was re- by both 
jected by the Commons. The second bill. Houses. 
which was less stringent, was introduced into the Lords, 
and was warmly supported by Shrewsbury, William's 
Whig minister, whilst Danby, the Tory minister, who 
, had been raised to the marquisate of Carmarthen, was 
as strenuous in opposing it. The Marquis of Carmarthen 
succeeded in getting it thrown out. 



i8o The Fall of the Stuarts i dfc. a.d. 

On the rejection of these bills, William himself drew 
up an Act of Grace, which was a full pardon and indem- 
nity for all political offenders. It was pre- 
i^ct of Grace ggnted to both Houses, and was passed by 

passed. _ ^ ■' 

both Houses without one dissentient voice. 
By this act William trusted to set at rest political ani- 
mosities and to be able to prorogue Parliament so that 
he might be set free to proceed at once to Ireland, in or- 
der to drive James and the French out of the island. 
But Shrewsbury was incensed with William for thus, as 
he thought, truckling to the Tories. He was a man of 
morbid sensitiveness ; his pride was wounded, and he 
resolved to resign. The king was disinclined thus to 
part with one of the " seven patriots," and personally so- 
licited him to continue in office. Shrews- 
Shrewsbury bury vacillated, but at length came to his 

turns traitor. •' ° 

final determination and resigned. When he 
first thought himself no longer trusted by William, heat 
once made overtures to James ; these overtures were ac- 
cepted, and the resignation of his seal of office marked 
his adhesion to the Jacobite cause. 

Halifax, the treasurer, had also resigned office, so 
Halifax Carmarthen (Danby) and Nottingham, who 

resigns. were both Tories, were William's sole re- 

maining ministers. Thus the attempt of William to 
conciliate all parties by a coalition ministry proved un- 
successful. But he still determined to show that he did 
not consider himself the king of a party. Having pro- 
rogued Parliament on May 20, and made preparations 
for his Irish campaign, William, before his departure, 
chose a council of nine privy councillors to assist Mary. 
Of these four were Whigs, the remaining five, among 
whom were Carmarthen, Nottingham, and Churchill 
(now Earl of Marlborough) were Tories. 



1690. The Victory of the Boyne. 181 



Section II. — The Victory of the Boyne. 

Marshal Schomberg landed at Belfast in the autumn 
of 1689, soon after the victory of Newtown Butler, with 
an army of 10,000 men. Thence he schomberg 
marched to Carrickfert^us, and beings arrives in 

_ Ireland, and 

joined by the Protestants of Enniskillen, lorm:, a camp 

,. , , . 1 T-N 1 1- at Uundalk. 

directed his movements towards Dublin, 
in hopes of striking a decisive blow before the winter 
set in. James' forces were collected at Drogheda, to the 
number of 20,000. On reaching Dundalk, Schomberg 
found that his men, for the most part raw English peas- 
ants, hastily recruited, not only stood in need of addi- 
tional drilling, but were, besides, fatigued by their 
marches, and half-starved by the shortcomings of the 
commissariat service. He therefore resolved to halt near 
Dundalk, form an entrenched camp, and devote his own 
time and that of his officers to teaching his musketeers 
how to load and fire, and his cavalry how to ride. 
James, having joined his troops at Drogheda, marched 
to within a few miles of Schomberg's camp, as if to at- 
tack it. Von Rosen, however, recommended more pru- 
dent measures, and James withdrew his army. 

Schomberg's troops, supplied with bad food, and suf- 
fering from the constant rain, fell easy victims to fever, 
ague, and dysentery. In every regiment Sufferings of 
the sick outnumbered those who were fit for ^^^ English. 
duty. Treachery, also, was suspected. Colonel Shales, 
formerly commissary-general to King James, was the 
officer at the head of the commissariat. It was said 
that the peculations of his subordinates, in which he 
shared, were carried on not merely to enrich themselves, 
but to ruin the army. Shales was eventually dismissed 



182 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c. a.d. 

the service, in consequence of the House of Commons 

presenting an address against him. 

In November James sent his troops into winter quar- 
ters. Schomberg immediately broke up his 
ia winter camp, Sent the sick on board ship, or into 

quarters. hospital at Belfast, and dispersed the troops 

still fit for service among the towns and villages of Ulster. 

Early in the spring of 1690 William sent reinforce- 
ments to Schomberg, not, as last year, English peasant 
„^.„. lads, but sturdy Dutch and Danish soldiers, 

William ^ ■' 

arrives in scasoncd in many campaigns. With these 

arrived a body of exiled French Hugue- 
nots, and a few picked English regiments. They all 
assembled at Belfast, and thither followed William, 
leaving London on June 4, and arriving at Belfast on 
the 14th. Schomberg was ordered to rendezvous with 
his troops at Loughbrickland, a small town on the 
Lough of Brickland, lying a mile or two to the east- 
ward of the high road running from Lisburn to Newry 
and Dundalk. 

James had sent urgent appeals to Lewis for reinforce- 
ments, dwelling much on the uselessness of his Irish 
troops. Lewis promised to exchange French soldiers 
for Irish ones, at the rate of two Frenchmen 

Lauzun sent 

by Lewis for every Irishman, and on the arrival at 

forcemem's Brest of 4,ooo ragged, but strong, Irish, there 
for James. were scnt to Dubhn 8,000 good French 
soldiers, under the command of Count of Lauzun. Lau- 
zun was placed in command at the special request of 
James and his queen, with whom he was in high favor, 
but he was a drawing-room soldier, who shone more at 
Versailles than on the battle-field. James and Lauzun 
had almost reached Dundalk, when they heard of Wil- 
liam's arrival in Ireland. 



1690. The Victory of the Boyne. 183 

When William had reached his army he found that 
it had been joined by the volmiteers from Enniskillen 
and Londonderry, and was thus raised to 
36,000 men. With the men of Derry made bishop 
marched Walker, the clerical defender of ° ^'^^' 
the city. The bishopric of Derry had just fallen vacant, 
and Williams' first act was to appoint Walker to the see. 
But neither episcopal ease nor episcopal zeal tempted 
him to leave his " prentice boys." 

James' army numbered about 27,000. On hearing the 
strength of William he resolved to fall back 
until he could form his troops on scround James takes 

^ ° up a position. 

where natural advantages should counter- 
balance their inferiority in numbers. He therefore with- 
drew towards Drogheda, and crossed the river Boyne at 
the ford at Old Bridge. Here he drew up his army on 
the south side of the river, with Drogheda, garrisoned 
by Irish, a few miles to his right, and to his left the 
bridge at Slane, guarded by a strong body of his caval- 
ry under O'Neil. 

On June 30 William came in sight of the combined 
Irish and French army on the other side of the Boyne. 
He could not restrain his delight at coming up with 
them. " Gentlemen, I am glad to see ,„.,. 

, ° . Wiliam 

you," he exclaimed; adding, "It is my comes up 

r 1. -r '• TT .1. with James. 

fault if you escape me now. He at once 
rode forward to reconnoitre the position of James' army. 
While he was thus engaged he was observed by the ene- 
my, and two field-pieces were brought up to open fire 
upon him and his staff. The first shot of each took 
effect, the one killing the horse of Prince George of 
Hesse and bringing its rider to the ground, and the other 
wounding William in the shoulder. The wound fortu- 
nately was a slight one, but for a moment dismay spread 



1 84 The Fall of the Stuarts J &*c. a.d. 

through his staff. After the wound was dressed, the in- 
domitable spirit of WilHam enabled him again to mount 
his charger. On that day he was for nineteen consecu- 
tive hours on horseback. 

On the following morning, July i, William gave his 
final orders. The right wing, under a son of Schom- 
berg, was to cross the bridge at Slane, and, 
BatUeofthe after driving away O'Neil's dragoons, to 
turn the left flank of James' army. Wil- 
liam's left wing, composed entirely of cavalry, under his 
own immediate command, was to cross nearer Droghe- 
da and operate on the right flank of the enemy. The 
centre, all infantry, led by Schomberg, was to force the 
passage of the Boyne. 

Lauzun saw at once that if their left flank was turned, 
retreat, if it should be necessary to retreat, was impossi- 
ble. He therefore moved the French contingent, the 
most trustworthy part of the army, to reinforce O'Neil 
on the left. Schomberg's son had already crossed the 
bridge at Slane, and pushed back the dragoons, but by 
the arrival of the French he was held at bay at the pass 
of Duleek. The Irish alone were left to form the centre 
of James' army. The Dutch allies, and French refu- 
gees and Irish Protestants, under Schomberg, wadin-^; 
up to their arm-pits, forced the river, and made good 
their footing on the other side. No sooner did the Irish 
infantry see this, than they turned and fled. The Irish 
cavalry, under Hamilton, came to the rescue and pressed 
back the allied troops. Schomberg urged his horse 
through the river to rally his wavering troops. " Voila 
vos persecuteurs ! " he shouted to the retreating French 
Huguenots, who rallied and came again to the attack. 
At this critical moment the brave old marshall was struck 
dead from his horse, and Bishop Walker received his 



1690. The Victory of the Bcyne. 185 

death wound. William, however, having made good 
his passage of the river, formed up his cavalry, and then 
putting himself at their head, wheeled to the right, and 
came down on the right flank of the Irish horse. These 
latter, pressed in their turn by this fresh body of troops, 
gave way. The allied infantry re-formed their ranks, 
and began again to advance. In a few minutes James' 
army was in full retreat. Fortunately for James the 
French held firm the pass of Duleek, and then formed 
in the rear, and covered the flying army. Had it not 
been for the foresight of Lauzun, the slaughter of the 
fugitives would have been immense. As it was, the loss 
of the Irish was estimated at 1,500, that of William's 
allied troops at 500 only. 

James, when he saw the day was lost, galloped off to 
Dublin with all haste, and made preparation for his 
immediate return to France. 

When William was told of Schomberg's death his 
grief was great, and his usually phlegmatic nature was 
deeply moved. But when he was told that Bishop 
Walker also had met with his death at the passage of the 
Boyne, " What took him there ? " said he. His remark 
to Burnet, at the landing at Torbay, was to the same 
purport. He thought divines should keep to their studies 
and their pulpits, and not interfere with soldiers or 
statesmen. 

The slight wound received by William on the day 
before the battle had been reported at Versailles as fatal. 
Great was the consequent rejoicing. The bells of Notre 
Dame at Paris, rung only on the most important occa- 
sions, now pealed forth their notes of triumph. On July 
5 a letter arrived from James, dated from Brest, an- 
nouncing his safe arrival there, and the defeat he had 
sustained. The reaction caused by this bad news, com- 



1 86 The Fall of the Stuarts y &*c. a.d. 

ing after the good news, increased James' unpopularity at 
the court of Lewis. In London, on the other hand, the 
intelHgence of the victory at the Boyne caused the 
greatest enthusiasm. London, indeed, stood in need of 
consolation. Since William's departure for Ireland a 
great blow had fallen. The French had obtained the 
command of the Channel. 

Section III. — Herbert, Lord Torrington. 

The work of the French dock-yards had produced 
great results. A magnificent fleet, well equipped, con- 
sisting of no less than seventy-eight ships of the line, 
besides frigates and smaller vessels, and carrying in all 
4,702 guns, put to sea under the command of the Count 
of Tourville. The combined English and Dutch fleet, 
under Admiral Herbert ( now raised to the peerage as 
Lord Torrington ), mustered only fifty-six ships of the 
line, mounting 3,462 guns. Torrington, cruising to the 
south-west of the Isle of Wight, sighted Tourville's fleet 
off the Needles, and at once made for the straits of Do- 
_ , ^ ver. The queen sent down from London to 

Defeat off ^ . _ . 

Beachy the coast messengers to mtercept Tornngton, 

and give him imperative orders to engage. 
The message reached him when his fleet was off Beachy 
Head. With reluctance he obeyed, and formed in order 
of battle. He placed the Dutch under Admiral Evert- 
sen, a brave and skillful seaman, in the van, and gave 
the signal to engage. The Dutch fought bravely, but 
were coldly supported by the English. At length Evert- 
sen unwillingly withdrew from the contest, leaving one of 
his ships as a prize to the French. Torrington, taking 
in tow those of his vessels which were damaged, made 
with all haste for the Thames. It was fortunate indeed 
for England that Tourville did not follow up his victory 



1690. Torrington Defeated. 187 

with energy. If he had done so, the 30th of June would 
have been a day long to be mournfully remembered by 
Enghshmen. Tourville, instead of pursuing Torrington, 
sailed westwards, burned Teignmouth in Devonshire, 
and then waited in daily expectation of a rising in Eng- 
gland in James' favor which should warrant his more 
active interference. 

It is doubtful if any victory of the English arms 
would have done more to strengthen William's cause 
than the defeat off Beachy Head. English sailors were 
fondly supposed to be invincible, and it was at once as- 
serted that their defeat was due to treachery. Public 
opinion declared that Torrington was a traitor. The 
Londoners now became alarmed for the safety of their 
city, and their fear increased their hatred of the French, 
and for the cause favored by the French king. It was 
at this moment that the news reached Lon- 
don of William's victory at the Boyne. feeUnf^in 
Mary had from the first been almost idol- ^w^\ °^ 



nam. 



ized by those brought into contact with her. 
Her popularity was now shared by her husband. 
Torrington was sent to the Tower, and in the following 
December was tried by court-martial, for having, 
"through treachery or cowardice, misbehaved in his 
office, drawn dishonor on the British nation, and sacri- 
ficed our good allies the Dutch." He and his friends 
declared he was being made a victim to the resentment 
of the Dutch, who had been destroyed by their own 
rashness. The idea that an Englishman was being sac- 
ficed to Dutch interests caused a reaction 
in public feeling. The result of the trial Torrington 

^ *=" _ dismissed. 

was a verdict of not guilty, and the popu- 
lace hailed the verdict with joy, although, five months 
previously, Torrington's name was never uttered with- 



1 88 The Fall of the Stuarts, &'c. a.d. 

out an evil epithet attached to it. Notwithstanding the 
verdict, William dismissed hini from the service. 

Section IV. — William leaves Ireland. 

James' army, flying from the Boyne, reached Dublin 
Lauzun agreed with Tyrconnel, whom James had nomi- 
nated his lord-lieutenant, that it was impossible to make 
a stand for the defence of the capital, so dispirited were 
the soldiers. They therefore rapidly withdrew their 
troops and marched towards the west. On July 6 Wil- 
liam entered Dublin, and returned thanks 

William . . •/-.■!-. -ii/^iii 

enters Dub- for his Victory m St. Patrick s Cathedral. It 
^'^' was on this day that William heard of the 

French victory off Beachy head. He at once came 
to the conclusion that it was absolutely necessary to se- 
cure Waterford, the finest harbor in the south-east of 
Ireland, and a more secure anchorage for his transports 
than the bay of Dublin. 

On July 21 William appeared before Waterford, and 
it immediately surrendered. He now prepared to leave 
Ireland for England. As he approached 
Waterford Dublin he heard that Tourville, after burn- 
ing Teignmouth, had returned to France, 
and that the appearance of a French fleet in the 
Thames was no longer to be dreaded. He therefore re- 
joined his force near Cashel, who were following the 
still retreating army of James. 

The Irish army had reached Limerick, and here some 
proposed to make a stand. But Lauzun and Tyrconnel 
both held that Limerick could not be de- 
fended, that "its battlements might be bat- 
tered down with roasted apples," and that the army, by 
remaining there, would be sure to fall an easy prey 
to William. But the Irish wished for an opportunity to 



1690. William leaves Ireland. 189 

retrieve their character, and Patrick Sarsfield J'^^'^j.^'^ 

, . , .... barsfield. 

Stood forth as an exponent of their views. 

Sarsfield had formerly held a commission in the Eng- 
lish life-guards, had seen much service abroad, and 
had, with his regiment, fought against Monmouth at 
Sedgemoor He represented the county of Dublin in the 
Irish Parliament. He was handsome, of high stature 
and great strength, brave, generous, talented, and every- 
where popular. Descended from one of the early Eng- 
lish colonists, his family had often intermarried with the 
native Irish, and Sarsfield himself had become one of 
those called *' Hibernis Hiberniores " (more Irish than 
the Irish). 

Sarsfield pointed out the strong advantages of defence 
offered by Limerick. He expatiated on the natural 
strength of the city, the greater part of which stood on 
an island in the Shannon, with only one bridge con- 
necting it with the mainland, the river itself 

° Limerick 

being held by a French squadron. The defended by 

result of the deliberations was that Lauzun 

and Tyrconnel, with the French, retired northwards to 

Galway, leaving the Irish army of 20,000 to defend 

Limerick. 

On August 9 William arrived before the city, and 
pitched his camp on the left bank of the Shannon. His 
heavy artillery had not yet come up. On the loth Sars- 
field, at the head of 500 cavalry, left Limerick by the 
right bank of the river, to reconnoitre. Intelligence was 
brought him of the whereabouts of William's 
artillery train. Crossing the Shannon at artiii'ery ^ 
Killaloe, he came down on it as it was i^^^l^y^'^ ^y 

barsneld. 

parked for the night, put to flight the escort, 

blew up the powder, buried or burst the guns and was 

safe back in Limerick before the morning. 



190 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c. a.d. 

A regular siege was now out of the question, so William 
rapidly pushed forward the trenches in order to carry 
the place by assault. Rain fell without intermission. 
The English and Dutch soldiers, working in water up 
to their knees, began to suffer from dysentery. The com- 
missariat, as usual, was deficient. From the 17th to the 
27th the progress made by the besiegers was slow, and 
on the latter day it was determined to try the effect of 
an assault. Desperate fighting took place for four hours, 
William fails ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^ assailants were repulsed, 
before Although the English had entered that part 

of the town which lay on the left bank of the 
river, they were unable to make good their footing, and 
were driven slowly back to their camp. On the night 
of the 27th rain fell heavier than ever. The English 
camp became a swamp. The light field-guns and the 
commissariat wagons began to sink into the treacherous 
soil. On the 29th a council of war was held, and Wil- 
liam reluctantly gave orders to raise the siege. 

The king started immediately for Waterford, and 
sailed thence for England, landing at Bristol on Septem- 
ber 6. 

Section V. — Marlborough in Ireland. 

When Tourville was threatening the southern coast, 
troops under the command of Lord Marlborough had 
been despatched to garrison Portsmouth. All danger 
from the French having passed away, Marlborough pro- 
posed to Queen Mary to send the troops to the south of 
Ireland, to reduce Cork and Kinsale. Mary laid the 
plans before the council of nine. The council v/as di- 
vided as to the expediency of the enterprise. 
Marlborough William, who was in Ireland, was appealed 
Ireland. to, and approved, ordering Marlborough, 



1690. Campaign in the Netherlands. 191 

who had proposed the scheme, to command the expedi- 
tion. On September 22 the force, consisting of 5,000 
men, disembarked near Cork, and was joined by some 
of the Dutch troops under the Duke of Wiirtemberg, 
who had been engaged in the siege of Limerick. 

After a siege of forty-eight hours Cork capitulated. 
In a few hours afterwards the Enghsh cavalry appeared 
before Kinsale, and summoned the garrison to surren- 
der. The Irish replied by setting fire to the town, and 
then retired to two forts, called the Old and 
New Forts. The English put out the fire Kinsafe faU. 
with difficulty. Marlborough, on coming up 
with the rest of his forces, attacked the Old Fort with 
scaling ladders, and captured or killed all its garrison. 
The New Fort, after being besieged for six days, capitu- 
lated on terms, and its garrison was allowed to retire to 
Limerick. 

The climate now began to affect Marlborough's troops, 
and it was determined that all William's troops in Ire- 
land should go into winter quarters. On November i 
Marlborough presented himself to William at Kensing- 
ton, and was most graciously received by him. 

Wiliiam now held the provinces of Ulster and Leins- 
ter, and Enniskillen, Londonderry, Belfast, Dundalk, 
Drogheda, Dublin, Waterford, Cork, and Kinsale were 
garisoned by his troops. 

Section VI. — Campaign in the Netherlands. 

Contrary to the wishes of his minister, Louvois, Lewis 
had given the command of the French army in the 
Netherlands to the Duke of Luxembourg-. , 

° Luxembourg 

Luxembourg, a biter enemy of Louvois, was and Wai- 
a bold and original general, rapid in his 
movements, and sometimes even rash. The Prince of 



192 The Fall of the Stuarts, &'c. a.d. 

Waldeck, who carried on war according to the rules of 
the tacticians, commanded the ImperiaHsts. 

Waldeck had taken up a strong position behind the 
Sambre, to the eastward of Namur. Luxembourg forced 
the passage of the Sambre, attacked Waldeck at Fleu- 
rus, and defeated him in a decisive battle on June 30, the 
same day which witnessed the English de- 
victoriousat feat off Beachy Head. Waldeck lost 5,000 
killed, 8,000 prisoners, 50 pieces of artillery, 
and more than 100 standards. The standards were sent 
to Notre Dame, and the wits of Paris dubbed Luxem- 
bourg "le tapissier de Notre Dame " ( the upholsterer 
of Notre Dame ). 

Luxembourg wished to follow up his victory by attack- 
ing either Namur or Charleroi ; but Louvois had suffi- 
cient influence with Lewis to stop him in his victorious 
path, and he was ordered to remain inactive. 

Another French general, Catinat ( the first instance in 
France of a man rising to that rank who was not of the 
order of the nobility ), was also victorious in Savoy over 
the troops of Victor Amadeus. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Pacification of Ireland and Scotland. 

Section I. — Ireland — Limerick. 

In the spring of 169 1 Tyrconnel returned to Ireland as 
lord-heutenant of James. He landed at Limerick, and 
was soon afterwards joined by St. Ruth, a French g^rv- 
^ ^ , eral, whose reputation in that capacity was 

St. Ruth. , J 1 • n 1 • • 

based chiefly on his success in the '* Dra- 



1 6 9 1 . Ireland — Liftierick. 193 

gonnades. " St. Ruth was supposed to understand and 
appreciate the Irish character, because the Irish regi- 
ments in the French service had been under his com- 
mand. He set to work to reorganize the forces placed 
•at his disposal, but was bitterly disappointed with their 
progress. Added to this, he found that Sarsfield was 
the favorite of the soldiery, so that both St. Ruth and 
Tyrconnel, jealous of Sarsfield's influence, made a point 
of employing as little as possible the best officer Ireland 
possessed. 

On June i, St. Ruth thought his forces 

J -11 J rr • 1 ^ ■, ^ , , St. Ruth takes 

drilled sufficiently to take the field. the field for 

Ginkell, an experienced Dutch officer, had J^™^^* 
been placed by William under command of Ginkell com- 

•^ mands Jing- 

the English and the allied Dutch troops. lish, 

St. Ruth had placed a strong garrison in Athlone, a 
town on the Shannon about 70 miles north of Limerick. 
Ginkell had concentrated his forces at Mullingar, in 
Westmeath, 28 miles due east of Athlone. 
On the 7th he captured Ballymore and its tolthKne^^ 
garrison. Having strengthened the fortifica- 
tions, he left the garrison there, so that it might serve as a 
place to fall back upon in case of reverse. On June 19 
he appeared before Athlone. 

The town of Athlone was divided by the Shannon into 
two parts. On the right bank was the Celtic town, com- 
manded by an old castle. On the left bank had been 
the English town ; but this now lay in a heap 
of ruins, having been burnt by the Irish. Athlone cap- 
The two banks of the river were connected 
by a bridge, and this bridge was also commanded by the 
castle. About 600 yards below the bridge was a deep 
and dangerous ford, covered by earthworks on the Irish 
or right bank. After a few hours' fighting, Ginkell 

O 



194 



The Fall of the Stuarts, 6^r. 



A.D. 




:^69i. Ireland. 195 

gained possession of what remained of the English town, 
and on June 21 he began to erect batteries. He began 
the bombardment on the next day, and in a short time 
the Irish town was in ruins, and the castle much 
damaged. But St. Ruth had encamped with his army 
outside Athlone to support the garrison, and the English 
could not cross the bridge, which was stoutly held by the 
Irish. So matters continued until the 30th, when a 
council of war was called together by Ginkell. Bearing 
in mind the successful passage of the Boyne, the coun- 
cil resolved, while making a feint of forcing the bridge, to 
attempt to cross the Shannon by the ford, and so carry 
the covering earthworks with a rush. The bold idea 
was carried out, and was successful. With a loss of only 
12 killed and 30 wounded, the English crossed the river, 
and took in rear the defenders of the bridge. A crowd 
of fugitives, rushing pell-mell into his camp, brought to 
St. Ruth the intelligence that the town had fallen. De- 
jected and disguised, he rapidly struck his tents and re- 
treated westward toward Galway. 

St. Ruth, in order to retrieve his character as a general, 
determined, contrary to the advice of Sars- 
field, to risk a general engagement. He A^"}fi°^ 

knew that he should incur the displeasure 
of Lewis, when the latter learnt that he had led a reliev- 
ing army to the walls of Athlone and had then retreated 
without striking a blow to aid the garrison. He knew 
also that his troops could not be relied on, but at the 
same time he did what skill could do to counteract their 
unsteadiness. He therefore chose a strong position at 
Aughrim which could be strengthened artificially. He 
drew up his men on the slope of a hill, at the foot of which 
was a marsh. He further strengthened his front by 
erecting breastworks, from behind which his men could 



196 The Fall of the Stuarts J ^c, a.d, 

fire on the enemy as they struggled through the boggy 
ground to the attack. On July 11 Ginkell had marched 
to Ballinasloe, four miles westward of Aughrim. On the 
1 2th the English and Dutch attacked the Irish. For two 
hours they could make no impression ; " the action was 
very hot, for the Irish disputed the matter obstinately." 
At length, on the extreme of the English right, a squad- 
ron of the Blues found somewhat firmer ground, and suc- 
cessfully crossed the morass. Laying down hurdles, 
they formed a road along which the whole of the English 
cavalry moved. As soon as they had passed the bog, 
the cavalry formed, wheeled to the left, and charged the 
Irish on their flank. At this critical moment, St. Ruth was 
killed. The Irish began to give way. Sarsfield, who com- 
manded the reserve, remained inactive, for he had been 
ordered by St. Ruth not to advance unless he received 
direct orders to do so from him. St. Ruth being dead, no 
orders were given, and the Irish, pressed by the English 
infantry (who again and again came to the attack in their 
front) as well as the cavalry on their flank, finally broke 
and fled. In the pursuit which followed, few prisoners were 
taken but many hundred fugitives were slain. The cannon 
and baggage of the Irish fell into the hands of the victors. 
Sarsfield drew off a few regiments and reached Galway. 
The Irish lost, out of a force of 28,600, no less than 7,000 
killed and 400 prisoners. Ginkell' s army of 20,coo had 
600 killed and 1,000 wounded. 

Galway capitulated as soon as Ginkell appeared before 

it, on condition that its garrison should be 

Galway sur- allowed to withdraw to Limerick. In 

renders. 

Limerick, then, all those bearing arms for 
James were assembled. 

Tvrconnel himself made every preparation 

Death of n . ^ r r ■, • tT r i 

Tyrconnel. for the defence of the city. Before, how- 



1 6 9 1 . Limerick. 197 

ever, the army of William appeared, a fit of apoplexy 
carried off the man who was most feared and hated by 
the Protestants of Ireland. 

Ginkell began the bombardment of Limerick on Au- 
gust 12. When William was foiled, a French squadron 
commanded the Shannon ; now, however, the river was 
held by an English fleet. Ginkell, taking a strong body 
of troops across the river in boats, dispersed the Irish 
cavalry encamped on the right bank, and 
carried a detached fort, protecting the bridge ^?^' °( , 
which connected the two parts of the city. 
It was evident to both besiegers and besieged that 
Limerick must soon fall. Offers of capitulation were 
made and a truce of a few days was arranged whilst the 
terms of the capitulation were being drawn up. 

On October i two treaties were signed, the one mili- 
tary, by Ginkell, the other civil, by the lords justices. 
By the military treaty, all Irish officers and soldiers 
electing to leave their country, and retire to 
France, were to be conveyed thither by ^^'^^^i °^ 
English transports. Ten thousand availed 
themselves of this condition, and were formed into the 
Irish brigade which afterward did such good service to 
the French kings. The civil treaty provided that the 
Irish who were Roman Catholics should enjoy all the 
privileges in the exercise of their religion which they 
had enjoyed in the reign of Charles II.; that they 
should have permission to carry arms, to exercise their 
professions, and should receive full amnesty for all 
offences against the government of WiUiam and 
Mary. 

This treaty was subsequently confirmed by the Eng- 
lish Parliament. 

With the departure of the Irish soldiers the last ves- 



198 The Fall of the SticartSy &*€. a.d. 

tige of opposition to the House of Orange disappeared. 
The lords justices appointed by WiUiam ruled the coun- 
try with great harshness. An Irish Parliament — which, 
according to the law, was composed entirely of Protes- 
tants—was summoned to meet at Dublin in 1695. It re- 
fused to accept the conditions of the treaty of Limerick, 
and this refusal earned for that town the name of "The 
city of the violated treaty." Penal laws of 

Ireland kept ^ . ^ i 

in submis- the utmost seventy agamst the Roman Cath- 
olics were carried. Ireland was led into 
bondage, and its chains were riveted by the Irish Prot- 
estants, who thus took vengeance for the wrongs they 
had suffered at the hands of the Stuarts. 

So effectual were the means of repression taken, that 
in the two insurrections in favor of the Stuarts which 
broke out in the i8th century, not a pike was sharpened, 
not a sword was drawn, not a shot was fired, in all Ire- 
land, on behalf of the last Catholic king. For nearly 
one hundred years the Catholics of Ireland were kept 
in such subjection that they could hardly 
^entu^^'^'^ ^ ^^ ^^^*^ ^° exist as a political party, and 
were objects neither of distrust nor fear to 
the English Government. 

Section 1 1 . — Scotland — Glencoe. 

Lord Breadalbane, one of the clan Campbell, had 
early in the year 1691, laid before Dalrymple a scheme 
for the pacification of the Highlands. He proposed that 
William should offer a free pardon and a sum of money 
to all the chiefs who would take the oath of allegiance, 
and whose clans would bring their arms to Fort William 
before a certain day. The sum to be divided amongst ' 
them was to be from ten to fifteen thousand pounds. 
Dalrymple approved of the plan, for he hoped that the 



1 69 1. Glencoe. 199 

pride of the chieftains would be too great to 
allow them to accept the offer, and that their wkh°thy^°"^ 
refusal might afford a pretence for carrying ^aS^^"^^ 
fire and sword into their territories. Wil- 
liam agreed to the proposal. 

December 31, 1691, was fixed on as the last day on 
which the chieftains could accept the conditions offered. 
Dalrymple's hopes were not realized. He had given 
the officers in command instructions as to the way they 
were to deal with the chiefs, and hoped "the government 
would not be troubled with the prisoners." But by the 
31st all had laid down their arms except the ]\tacdonalds 
of Glencoe. 

Glencoe, a Highland valley near Loch Leven and 
Ben Nevis, was almost surrounded by the lands of the 
Campbells. It was held by the Macdonalds, 

11 1 1 11 -1 Glencoe. 

a small clan, but very troublesome neigh- 
bors to the Campbells. The Macdonalds were hated by 
the Campbells, and Glencoe was a very Naboth's vine- 
yard to both Lords Breadalbane and Argyle. 

When first negotiations were opened with the High- 
land chiefs, Breadalbane told Macdonald of Glencoe that 
he should retain any money which might be due to 
Macdonald on submitting, as a compensa- 

. ...... Macdonald 

tion for various injuries inflicted at various of Glencoe 
times by the Macdonalds on the Campbells. gfvml in bis 
The old chieftain had consequently no in- submission. 
ducement to offer to his men to lay down their arms, and 
was also fearful that if they were disarmed the Camp- 
bells would become troublesome. But when, at the close 
of 1 69 1, Macdonald heard that every other clan had 
submitted, he presented himself on December 30 before 
the governor of Fort William to take the oaths. The 
governor, not being a magistrate, was unable to admin- 



200 



The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. 



A.D. 







>^ 













GLENCOE 



• ■"■ ■ ~- -^ nt' 



Etive Mt. 



Rusaeil ^ Struthers.N. T 

ister them, but he gave him a letter to the sheriff of 
Inverary, who administered the oaths, to Macdonald on 
January 6. 

Breadalbane informed Dalrymple that all had sub- 
mitted save the Macdonalds of Glencoe. Dalrymple 
then obtained from William a written order " to ex- 
tirpate that sept of thieves, for the vindica- 
tion of public justice." "The king," says 
Burnet, "signed this without any inquiry, 
for he was too apt to sign papers in a hurry 
without examining them." This was caused by the ac- ' 
cumulation of business papers. But William was kept 
in ignorance of Macdonald's having offered to take 
the oaths before the appointed time, and of having 
actually taken them a few days afterwards. The fatal 
order reached the governor of Fort William, and was 
transmitted by him for execution to the colonel command- 
ing Argyle's regiment of soldiers. The colonel sent 120 
men of his regiment, under a Captain Campbell, who 
was connected by marriage with one of the Macdonalds. 



William 
orders 

justice to be 
done on 
Glencoe. 



1691. Scotland. 201 

The Macdonalds entertained the soldiers on their arrival 
in the valley hospitably. They thought, as they had 
heard nothing to the contrary, that their submission was 
accepted. On the thirteenth day of their stay in Glencoe, 
Captain Campbell received full instructions from his 
colonel, and in accordance with this, the soldiers, at day- 
break of February 13, fell on their unsuspecting hosts. 
Forty of the Macdonalds were slain at once. The rest 
of the clan, with women and children, made their escape 
to the mountains There, cold, wearied, and starved, 
the greater number perished in the snows of that incle- 
ment winter. 

When the news of the "massacre of Glencoe" reached 
the French court, Lewis XIV. openly ex- 
pressed his abhorrence. The author of the ^^"^ked 
Dragonnades, the persecutor of the Hugue- 
nots, the master of those who devastated the Palatinate, 
could not find words adequate to express his abhorrence 
of William for this outrage on humanity. 

The Scotch Parliament in 1695 entered on an inquiry 
into the matter. The inquiry had been ordered before, 
but for one reason or anotherhad been postponed. The 
result was that Parliament recommended the prosecution 
of the officers of Argyle's regiment, and brought to light 
the double-dealing of Breadalbane and Dalrymple. 
Breadalbane was in consequence committed to prison on 
a charge of high treason, and Dalrymple's resignation 
of his office was accepted by William. The prosecution, 
however, of the officers never took place. ^ , ,, 

^ Breadalbane 

The trial of Breadalbane was delayed until escapes 
the session of Parliament came to an end, 
and then was dropped. " Political necessity," it is said, 
"bears down justice and honor." But William's charac- 
ter is stained by the careless signing of an inhuman 



202 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. 

order, and by the protection granted to the instigators 
and perpetrators of the Glencoe massacre. 

The Highlands being now pacified, the work of final- 
ly establishing William and Mary on the Scotch throne 
went on rapidly. The Presbyterian Church was restorea 
as the Church of Scotland. A Toleration Act was pro- 
posed by William, but to this the Scotch 
tranquil. Parliament remained unalterably opposed. ■ 

William was obliged to yield, but during his 
reign no persecution for religion took place. 

For the remaining years of the seventeenth century 
Scotland caused no disquiet to the reigning sovereign, 
nor did the Jacobites succeed in gaining in that kingdom 
many fresh adherents to their cause. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
The War during 1691, 1692, 1693, 1694. 

Section I. — Congress at the Hague. 

In January 1691 a congress assembled at the Hague. 

William arrived there at the end of that 

sides^Tthe^' nionth, and found already assembled the 

congress at greater number of the German electors and 

the Hague. ° 

sovereign princes, and plenipotentiaries from 
the Emperor, from the Kings of Spain, Sweden, Den- 
mark, and Poland, and from the Duke of Savoy. He 
presided at the formal opening of the congress. 

After a few days' deliberation it was agreed that the 

allies should keep in the field an army of 

The resolu- ^ . _ 

tions agreed 220,000 men to operate agamst France. 
°"' The contingents to be furnished by each of 



1692. Battle of Steinkirk. 203 

the allies were fixed, and the various details of the ensu- 
ing campaign were settled. 

Two essentials for military success, full authority 
vested in one man, and perfect secrecy, are 
seldom to be found in coalition. Moreover, in a coali- 
it is difficult for two allies to be in such ''°"" 
complete agreement that no cause for jealousy or mis- 
understanding should rise between them. But here there 
were not two, but twenty powers combined together, and 
supposed to act as one. There may be a moral strength 
added to a cause in its being supported by many allies ; 
but the moral strength is more than counterbalanced by 
the weakness inherent in a coalition. That the Grand 
Alliance did not break up altogether is due to the consum- 
mate judgment and statesmanlike management of 
William, exercised not once, but over and over again. 
On the other hand, many of the successes in the ensuing 
campaigns which attended the French armies may be 
traced to the fact that Lewis XIV. was his own master, 
made his own plans, consulted no other sovereign, and 
kept his own counsel. 



Section II. — Campaign of i6gi. 

The plan of operations agreed on by the allies was, 
that the Emperor sliould, with an army, ,„. , 

' Allies have 

hold the Rhme and threaten the eastern four armies 
frontier of France ; that the Duke of Savoy 
should be prepared with another army to enter France 
through the passes of Piedmont ; that Spain should 
have an army acting on her frontier ; and that William 
and the northern allies should defend the Low Countries, 
and reduce the fortresses in French Flanders. 

The frontiers of the Low Countries of Spanish Flan- 



204 The Fall of the Stuarts i &*€. a.d. 

ders, Hainault and Brabant, extended con- 
fenlfe Tn the tinuously for about 200 miles. They were 
knds^"^' defenjded by fortified towns, all of which 

were in the hands of the allies. Beginning 
on the west, we find Nieuport, Furnes, Dixmuide, 
Deynse, Oudenarde, Ath, Mons. Behind these, and 
joining a second line of defence, were Ostend, Bruges, 
Ghent, and Brussels. From Mons the line of defence 
was continued to the east by the river Sambre, with the 
fortress of Charleroi, to the north-east by the Meuse, with 
the fortified towns, Namur, Huy, Liege, and Maestricht. 
During the coming campaign many of these towns were 
captured and recaptured, and the attempts to relieve 
their garrisons by either one side or the other were the 
causes of most of the battles. When the congress broke 

up, the French were supposed to be unpre- 

Lewis and ^ 111. \ 1 i 

Luxembourg pared, and to be disposed to act only on the 
defensive. But suddenly Luxembourg ap- 
peared before Mons, with an army of 100,000 men. 
Lewis himself was also present, provided with every 
luxury to which he was accustomed at Versailles, and 
attended by a numerous retinue, including his troop of 
players, his musicians, his valets, and his cooks. Vau- 
ban, the engineer-in-chief, was also with the army. 
William, with some difficulty collecting a force of 50,000, 
marched to the relief of Mons. • But before he had 
arrived near it he heard that Mons had fallen (April 9). 
William accordingly withdrew towards Brussels, left the 
Prince of Waldeck with a force of 18,000 men to defend 
that city, and placed his English troops in an entrenched 
camp. He then paid a hasty visit to England to ar- 
range for the Irish campaign, and returned to Flanders 
in May. 

On the fall of Mons, Lewis returned in triumph to Ver- 




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1690-1696 
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1 69 1. Campaign of i6gi. 205 

sallies, leaving Luxembourg to repair the damages done 
to the fortifications of the captured fortress, and to con- 
tinue the campaign. With an army of 40,000 men, 
Luxembourg set out in May to surprise Brussels, Mar- 
shal Boufflers being detached with another French di- 
vision of almost equal numbers to attack 
Liege. Waldeck had made the best dis- oAhe allies 
position possible of his small army, and p^ench^ 
William was able to bring up his English 
contingent, and not only to check Luxembourg's ad- 
vance, but also to send succor to Liege. Every day 
fresh reinforcements joined the allies, and at length, 
William, finding himself superior in numbers to Luxem- 
bourg, tried to bring on a general action. Luxembourg, 
however, could not be tempted out of his lines. Rash 
when rashness was likely to succeed, he could be, 
when necessary, as cautious as William himself. 

Nothing further was done this year in the Spanish Ne- 
therlands. The troops went into winter quarters, and 
William returned to England on October 19. 

The French gained some slight successes over Spain 
on the Spanish and French frontier, and 

, _^ , - ^ • T-.- 1 Campaign 

over the Duke of Savoy m Piedmont. On ends abort- 
the Rhine nothing of importance took ^^^^' 
place. 

Lewis suffered a loss during this year for which many 
victories could not compensate. Louvois died in July. 
At enmity with Madame de Maintenon, bitterly mortified 
by the favor shown by Lewis to his rival and 
enemy Luxembourg, jealous and envious of .Death of 
the glory won at Mons, he suddenly fell ill 
and died. Lewis openly expressed his satisfaction, for 
he had for some time grown weary of the temper and 
insolence which his v/ar minister displayed. But he 



2o6 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. 

soon found it impossible adequately to supply his place. 
Pre-eminent in military organization, and unequalled in 
powers of administration, the ingenuity and activity of 
Louvois would have been of incalculable value to Lewis 
in the war which was now taxing the resources of France 
to the utmost. 

Section III. — Campaign of 1692. La Hogue and 
Steinkirk, 

The failure of James' party in Ireland was a great 
blow to Lewis. He had hoped that the war in tjiat island 
would be sufficient to engage William's attention, and 
to prevent his affording material aid to the allies on 
the Continent. He gave out, therefore, that he would 
make a great descent on England, and bring back for 
James his lost kingdom. Extraordinary pre- 
paradon^^^" parations were therefore made in the winter 
of 1691-2. On this expedition, and on the 
attack in the Netherlands, all the strength of France was 
to be employed. Lewis mustered altogether, in this year, 
and strength. 45o,ooo soldiers and 100,000 sailors. For 
the actual invasion of England 30,000 troops 
were told off, and were stationed at Havre, Cherbourg, 
and Fort la Hogue. Five hundred transports were col- 
lected for their conveyance, and a fleet, in which were 
fifty sail of the line, commanded by Tourville, was or- 
dered to protect the passage. For service in the Nether- 
lands an army of 100,000 was placed under the command 
of Luxembourg, and Lewis again joined them and 
opened the campaign in person. 

William, who was commander-in-chief of the allies in 
the Netherlands, found himself at the head of 80,000 
men to oppose Luxumbourg. 

James caused to be circulated in England a " declara- 



1692. Campaign of i6g2. 207 

tion" calling on his subjects to join his stan- 
dard; in this he exhorted them not to be Slimes °" 
afraid of the vengeance of William, because 
French troops would soon land in sufficient numbers to 
protect them, and to overcome opposition ; while at the 
same time he threatened various noblemen and prelates 
with punishment for their disloyalty. No sooner was 
this unwise declaration made public, than Mary and her 
council caused it to be printed and distributed in every 
direction. The effect of the publication was to unite 
Englishmen of all ranks and all political parties, to dis- 
gust even the Jacobites, and to make the statesmen, 
soldiers, and sailors who had been entrapped into cor- 
respondence with James, ashamed of their conduct, and 
return to their duty. Amongst those on whom the 
"declaration" thus acted was Admiral Russell, now 
commanding the English fleet. 

James left Versailles to witness the embarkation of the 
force intended for England, and pitched his tent in the 
camp formed at Fort la Hogue, a small but strongly 
fortified place on the east coast of the Cotentin penin- 
sula, not many miles from Cherbourg. On May 17 the 
French transports began to receive their troops. On 
the same day Russell, with the combined English and 
Dutch fleet, numbering ninety sail of the line, appeared 
off the coast of Cotentin. Tourville, with 
forty-four sail of the line, determined to give attSs the 
battle. James had shown Tourville a cer- fe"f ''^^ 
tain correspondence which had passed be- 
tween himself and Russell, and had assured him that 
the greater part of the English captains and crews were 
Jacobites, who would desert on the first opportunity. 
James little knew the good done to the cause of his 
enemies by his " declaration." Tourville, therefore, in 



2o8 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c. a.d. 

coming to this apparently rash determination, reckoned 
that if any resistance were offeted to him, it would be 
but a lukewarm one. 

The two fleets met about 20 miles from the French 

coast. The wind was at first favorable to the French, and 

permitted only half the allied fleet to come 

tk)gue° De- ii^^o action. The battle had lasted for five 

Tourville hours ; but, although Tourville momentarily 

expected part of the English fleet to yield or 

retire, no sign of defection appeared. The wind then shifted, 

and brought together all the allies. Tourville saw that 

it was useless to contend longer against such odds, and 

gave the signal to retire. Every French ship made its 

way, as best it could, to the shores of France. Some 01 

the fleet, making for St. Malo, escaped in safety through 

the dangerous channel known as the Race of Alderney. 

Three ships reached Cherbouig; one of these was the 

Royal Sun, the finest ship in the French navy, in which 

Tourville had hoisted his flag during the earlier part of 

the engagement. The remainder, 13 in number, were, 

under the orders of Tourville, stranded at La Hogue, 

with their broadsides turned towards the sea. A few 

days afterwards they were attacked by Sir G. Rooke with 

frigates, fireships, and boats from the squadron, and 

James had the mortification of being an eye-witness of 

their destruction. The Royal Sun and her two consorts 

were also burnt at Cherbourg by an English squadron 

under Admiral Delaval. 

James' last chance of regaining the English throne 

vanished with the victory of Russell at La 

oHnSon' Hogue. No armament was ever again 

^y ^^^'^ raised by Lewis for the invasion of England. 

Some military critics doubt whether Lewis 

intended the invasion, and think that he meant only to 



1692. Battle of Steinkirk. 209 

make a feint, in order to cause William to withdraw with 
his English troops from the Netherlands. If so, the 
stratagem had not the desired effect. When on June i, 
Lewis and Luxembourg invested Namur, William had 
with some difficulty collected an army near Huy of 70,- 
000 men, with whom he hoped to force the French army, 
of more than 100,000, to raise the siege. 

Namur is a fortified town situated at the junction of 
the Sambre and Meuse. Its defences had been greatly 
strengthened under the direction of Cohorn, the great 
Dutch engineer, the rival of Vauban. Cohorn was now 
present in the town to aid the garrison with his skill. 
Vauban was with Lewis to advise him in the conduct of 
the siege. Lewis himself undertook the re- 
duction of the town, having detached Luxem- capture of 
bourg with 80,000 men to cover the siege ^\^\^ ^^ 
operations, and ward off any offensive move- 
ment of William. Luxembourg contented himself with 
always presenting a bold front to the allies, so that, if 
William should resolve on attacking him, it would be at 
a disadvantage. A continual downpour of rain, lasting 
for some days, caused the rivers to overflow their banks, 
and laid all the surrounding country under water, so that 
William was, by this means alone, unable to send any 
help to the garrison. On June 8 the town surrendered, 
but the citadel held out until the 23d. Lewis made a 
triumphant entry into Namur, and then returned to Ver- 
sailles, to receive the congratulations of Madame de 
Maintenon and the flatteries of his courtiers, whilst 
Luxembourg was left to conduct the campaign. 

William, in his hopes of finding some opening in 
Luxembourg's lines through which he might reach 
Namur, had moved constantly to his right, so that on 
the day of the surrender of the capital he was about 

P 



2 1 o The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a. D. 

ten miles to the westward of the town. He at once with- 
drew his forces and took up a position at Genappe, close 
to the plain of Waterloo, so as to be able to defend Brussels 
against an army advancing from either Mons or Namur. 
Here, on August i, he heard that Luxembourg had ad- 
vaced from Mons, and had already reached the village 
of Steinkirk, and had there encamped his right wing, 
leaving his left wing, under the command of Boufflers, 
at Enghien, a village about four miles to the westward. 
William hoped by a rapid march to his right, to sur- 
prise the French. On the morning of the 3d he ordered 

his advanced guard of English and Dutch, 
Battle of numbering about 5,000 men, to attack the 

right wing of the French. The attack was 
vigorously made, and a French corps in advance of the 
right wing was pushed back, and threw those in rear 
somewhat into confusion. But the attacking party was 
not supported quickly. Luxembourg ordered his right 
to advance, supported it with regiments from his 
centre, and sent orders for the left wing to march ob- 
liquely from Enghien, and so threaten to outflank Wil- 
liam's right. The surprise was now over, and the as- 
sailants were fighting against great odds. Gallantly the 
Enghsh and Dutch held their own, gaining, perhaps, a 
few feet of ground. The English foot-guards, in par- 
ticular, covered themselves with glory. William could 
not, owing to the nature of the country, make sufficient 
use of his cavalry, and it was, in fact, itself in danger 
from the advance of the French left. Reluctantly, 
therefore, William gave the word to fall back, and the 
allied army, in good order and unpursued, retired from 

the field. 

The French loss at the battle of Steinkirk was about 
7,000 killed and wounded; that of the allies was about 



1692. 



Battle of Steinkirk. 



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212 The Fall of the Stuarts i ^c. a.d. 

the same in number, but the English alone lost 2,000 
killed and 3,000 wounded. 

Although the French were victorious, William gained 
the object he had in view, for Luxembourg was stopped 

on his march to Brussels, and compelled to 
Result of the ^^2A\ eight days at Enghien, reorganizing his 

army. Finding that William had again taken 
up a strong position in front of Brussels, Luxembourg 
turned his army westwards, and after various marches 
and counter-marches on both sides, both armies went 
into winter quarters. William himself left for England, 
September 26. 

The war this year languished on the Rhine and on the 
Spanish frontier, but the Duke of Savoy gained some 
trifling successes over the French in the Alps. 

Section IV. — Campaign oJ*i6gj — Neerwinden. 

William reached Holland again on March 31, 1693. 
It was with considerable difficulty that he smoothed over 
dissensions amongst the allies, and contrived to take 
the field in May, at the head of 50,000 men. Lewis also 
joined his soldiers under Luxembourg and Boufflers. 
They numbered more than double those which William 
commanded. Finding himself so strong, 
quks^the°army. Lewis thought it would be easy for him to 
drive William out of Brabant, and annex 
that province. William had drawn up his army before 
Louvain, and so skilful were the dispositions he had 
made, that Lewis found the task he had undertaken 
more difficult than he had anticipated. Luxembourg 
assured his master that it would be impossible to move 
William without fighting a pitched battle. Now battles il 
were not to Lewis' taste. In them he knew he ran 

some personal risk, and that, even if he gained a victory, . 

\ I 



I 1693. Campaign of i6qj. 213 

it might prove to be a barren one, a mere precursor of 
another engagement. In a siege, on the other hand, he 
had found by experience that he need not expose him- 
self, and the captured town was a material proof of his 
military prowess. So finding there was no fortress to be 
invested, but a tough battle to be fought, Lewis took 
leave of his generals and hurried back to Versailles, 
having first sent half of his troops to reinforce the army 
on the Rhine. Luxembourg was left in sole command 
of the French army in Flanders, which, although thus 
reduced, still far outnumbered that of William. 

William, however, having received some reinforce- 
ments felt himself strong enough to send a division, under 
the Duke of Wurtemberg, into French Flanders, to threat- 
en Tournay and Lille. Luxembourg withdrew his army 
southwards and laid siege to Huy. William moved 
from his position before Louvain, to attempt ^^ 

, Huy captured 

the relief of Huy. He had advanced two by Luxem- 
days' march beyond Tirlemont, when he °"'^^' 
heard that Huy had surrendered, and that Luxembourg 
was preparing to invest Liege and Maestricht. He there- 
fore hastily sent troops to reinforce the garrisons of these 
fortresses, and with his reduced army formed an encamp- 
ment near Landen. 

But Luxembourg having thus induced William to 
weaken his army by sending off reinforcements, con- 
centrated his own troops, and, in hopes of crushing 
William by mere force of numbers, marched to give him 
battle. On July 28 he arrived in sight of William's 
camp, which he found formed on a well chosen spot, 
between the river Little Gheet and a small stream called 
the Landen, and in the rear of the three villages of Laer, 
Neerwinden, and Romsdorf. The ground sloped down 
gradually from the camp towards these villages. The 



214 The Fall of the Stuarts i ^c. a.d. 

whole front of the position was strengthened by ditches, 

breastworks, and redoubts, in which nearly loo guns 

were mounted. William although he might 

Disposition of have retreated, thought that, even with his 

Williain s army. ° 

inferior numbers (for he had barely 50,000 
men to oppose to 70,000 under Luxembourg), the position 
could be held, and therefore waited the attack of the 
French. He drew up his army so that his left rested on 
the Landen, and was posted on rising ground to the rear 
of Romsdorf; his centre occupied the entrenchments in 
front of his camp, and his right held in force the villages 
of Laer and Neerwinden. 

Luxembourg made his first attack with his own centre 
on that of William, but after two hours' hard fighting had 
made no impression. Retiring his centre and sending 
from it regiments to strengthen each of his 
Battle of wings, with his right wing he occupied and 

held Romsdorf, with his left he attacked 
Laer and Neerwinden. These latter formed the key of 
the position, for, if they were taken by the French, 
William's right flank would be turned. A desperate 
struggle, therefore, took place round these villages. The 
defenders repulsed two attacks of infantry and three of 
cavalry. But William was obliged to move regiments 
from his centre to strengthen his extreme right at Laer, 
although the English guards and the Hanoverian con- 
tingent, without aid, held fast Neerwinden. Luxem- 
bourg now made a feint on the left of the allies, whilst 
he prepared for a last great effort on Neerwinden. He 
ordered to the attack the French guards, who were fresh 
and had been kept in reserve. These delivered a fierce 
assault on the defenders, who had been now engaged for 
seven hours, and who were driven slowly out of the vil- 
lage, stubbornly contesting every yard of ground. Lux 



1693. 



Campaign of i6^j. 



?^5 




2i6 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^'c. a.d. 

embourg, once having gained Neerwinden, was able to 
use his cavalry with fatal effect on the right wing of the 
allies. William saw that the day was lost, and that he 
must retire. He had previously ordered a body of dra- 
goons to hold the village of Dormael, about a mile in 
rear of his camp, and thither he directed his troops to 
fall back. This they did, but with no sign of disorder. 
The English troops covering the retreat, and led by 
"William in person, again and again faced about and at- 
tacked the French, so that Luxembourg, after twelve 
hours' fighting, gave orders for his men to halt, and 
allowed the allies to continue their retreat without further 
molestation. 

The losses of both the French and the allies at the 
battle of Neerwinden (or Landen, as it is sometimes 
called) were numerous. Luxembourg is corn- 
Losses of puted to have lost, in killed and wounded, 

each army. '^ 

17,000 men. The total loss of the allies 
was 6,000. 

William leisurely retired on Brussels, whilst Luxem- 
bourg, having halted a day on the field of battle, moved 
a few miles to his rear, and spent a fortnight in reorgan- 
izing his army. During this time William was joined 
by all the troops he had detached to French 
Charleroi Flanders. Luxembourg, on hearing this, 

withdrew southwards to Charleroi, and in- 
vested that fortress. After a siege of two months, 
Charleroi surrendered. Both armies soon after went 
into winter quarters, William arriving in England Octo- 
ber 29. 

In spite of the great losses at La Hogue, the naval re- 
sources of France were such that, in the year 1693, no 
less than 71 ships of the line, besides smaller vessels, 
were afloat. A gleam of success came to console Tour- 



1693- Campaign of i6gj . 217 

ville under the despondency from which he had suf- 
fered since his defeat. The Enghsh and Dutch mer- 
chant fleet, bound for Smyrna, was escorted as far as the 
coast of Spain by a large fleet of Enghsh men-of-war, 
but thence it was allowed to continue its voyage towards 
the Mediterranean with a convoy of only 

Great loss of 

20 men of war, commanded by Sir G. English and 
Rooke. Tourville lay in wait for the fleet, chantmen.^'^' 
with a squadron of ships of the line greatly 
superior in force to that under Rooke. On June 27 he 
attacked the fleet, and destroyed the greater part. It 
was owing entirely to the valor and seamanship of 
Rooke that any escaped. Great indignation was felt in 
England and Holland at the carelessness of the Admi- 
ralty officials in allowing so valuable a fleet to be so in- 
efficiently protected. The merchants of both countries 
were heavy losers by this disaster. 

The French army on the Rhine effected but little. In 
Savoy, however, the army of Lewis gained 
a great victory at Massagha (October 4), but on Rhljfe" in 
for want of reinforcements was unable to ^^'^py' '^^^ 

bpain. 

follow it Up. In Spain the result of the 
campaign was, on the whole, favorable to the French. 

Both by land and sea, Lewis had in this year proved 
his power. Nevertheless he desired peace. He had 
put forth every effort, and had strained his 
resources to the utmost, and yet had Lewis 

wishes for 

gained no substantial success. A few peace, 
fortresses in Spanish Flanders, and glorious 
but barren victories, were his only reward. Louvois, 
too, was dead, and there was no longer his fertile brain 
to devise expedients for replenishing the treasury. The 
taxes of France were increased to the utmost. The 
coinage was debased as much as possible. The nation 



2i8 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c. a.d. 

was in the deepest distress. "The people were perish- 
ing to the sound of Te Deums." 

The new Pope (Innocent XII.) who, in 1691, had 
succeeded Alexander, endeavored to mediate. Spain 
and Savoy were willing to enter into negotiations, and 
so also were Denmark and Sweden, but William urged 
the Emperor to continue the war,, showing 
come to ^°°^ him that now was the time, when France 
through Wii- was becoming exhausted, to crush perma- 
liam's imwii- nentlv the power and pretensions of Lewis. 

lingness. •' ^ i i • j- i 

William's arguments and his diplomacy 
were successful, and both the allies and France pre- 
pared for the campaign of 1694. 



Section V. — Campaign of 1694. 

A large fleet, with a considerable force of soldiers on 

board, was collected at Portsmouth, and from thence 

sailed to reduce Brest. But the French had 

Naval 

incidents of been Warned beforehand ( it is said through 
^ ^*' Lord Marlborough having treacherously 

given information to James ), and the fortifications had 
been strengthened by Vauban. The English troops 
were landed, but were repulsed, and the expedition 
proved a failure. However, Dunkirk, Calais, Dieppe, 
and Havre were in the course of the summer bombard- 
ed by the English, and much damage done. On the 
other hand, both the English and Dutch trade suffered 
considerably from French privateers. 

William proceeded to the Netherlands on May 6. The 
campaign was productive of few events of importance. 
Luxembourg, who again commanded the French army, 
was now inferior in numbers to the allies, and skilfully 
managed to avoid a general engagement. Huy was, 



i6-)4- Parliament, i6go-i6gs- 219 

however, recaptured from the French on ^^^^^^.^^ j„ 
September 29. William returned to Eng- Netherlands, 
land in the beginning of November. 

Lewis this year put out his greatest strength against 
Spain. He hoped thus to force the King of Spain to 
make peace ; but although his army captured some im- 
portant towns, the presence on the coast of 

r *■ 111- and in 

a Strong Enghsh fleet prevented the reahza- Spain, 

tion of his plans. 

In Savoy and Germany nothing noteworthy oc- 
curred. 

The result of the campaign, however, was what 
William anticipated. France was still further weakened. 
Lewis could no longer strike a strons^j blow. His re- 
sources were amost exhausted. He would be unable to 
continue the contest much longer. 



CHAPTER XVin. 

PARLIAMENT UNTIL 1695. DEATH OF QUEEN MARY. 

In the session of 1693-4 an important constitutional 
change was quietly inaugurated. 

WiUiam had found a great difficulty in carrying on 
the government, owing to the disagreement amongst his 
ministers on matters of state policy, Tories and Whigs 
could hardly be expected to take the same views. He 
therefore resolved to consult a man whose judgment of 
party pohtics, and tact in dealing ,vith factions, both 
English and foreign statesmen held in the highest es- 



2 20 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^c. a.d. 

,„„ teem. This man was Sunderland. Sun- 

William 

consults derland, having escaped to Holland in 1688, 

had lived a retired life in that country for 
two years, but had kept up a constant correspondence 
with influential friends in England, in order to pave the 
way for his return. Excluded by name from the Act of 
Grace, he yet ventured, when that bill became law to re- 
turn to England. Not, however, until the close of the 
session of 1692 did he dare to appear in the House of 
Lords. From that time, however, he was constant in 
his attendance in the Upper House. 

William, after consulting Sunderland, came to the 
conclusion that in future his ministers should be taken 
from one party in the state, so as to insure unanimity of 
opinion and action, and that that party from which he 
should first choose the united ministry should be the 
Whigs. A Whig ministry was accordingly 

The Junto. ^ , • , , r t / \ 

formed, to which the name of Junto ( a word 
signifying a joining together or union ) was given. 
Somers, the great lawyer, was made lord keeper of the 
privy seal. R'ussell ( his treasonable correspondence 
with James being overlooked as a reward for his victory 
at La Hogue ) went to the Admiralty. Lord Shrewsbury, 
created a duke, became one of the secretaries of state. 
Thomas Wharton, the eldest son of Lord Wharton, be- 
came the other secretary. Wharton was a man of con- 
siderable ability, but his character was so bad that no 
one respected him. His profligacy was notorious, and 
his companionship was shunned even in an age of lax 
morality. He was also a gambler and a duellist. He was 
true to one thing only, and that was to the Whig party. 
But his powers as a party leader were extraordinary. 
Montague, a young man of only thirty-five years of age, 
who had already earned a reputation in Parliament by 



1694- Parliament, i6go-i6g^. 221 

his oratory and his criticisms on financial matters, was 
made chancellor of the exchequer. 

In 1692-3 the National Debt may be said to have had 
its commencement. The revenue did not suffice to pro- 
vide for the extraordinary expenses of the 
war, and it was necessary to adopt some of^the"'"^ 
expedient for procuring more money. The d^k.""^^ 
wealth of the nation had greatly increased 
since the middle of this century. Money was more plenti- 
ful, and means of employing this money was scarce. 
London had been, consequently, for the last four years, 
overrun with speculators proposing all kinds of ridicu- 
lous schemes for employing money and realizing enor- 
mous profits. A hill was introduced into Parliament and 
carried, by which, adopting an expedient familiar to the 
financiers of Holland and France, the Government was 
empowered to borrow a million of money, and to grant 
in repayment annuities bearing interest at the rate often 
per cent, per annum. Certain excise duties were set 
apart to form a fund for the purpose. The public, re- 
cognizing the superiority of such security to that offered 
them by the speculators, readily responded, and the 
money was obtained with a promptitude which surpassed 
expectation. 

In the next session, 1693-4, the revenue still failed to 
meet the expenses of the war. A sum of 1,200,000/. 
was accordingly raised by borrowing it of a company of 
merchants, who undertook to provide it 

J- • r 1- • • J • -L Bank of 

on condition of being incorporated, with England 

certain privileges guaranteed by an act of °^^^ 

parliament. The scheme was originally proposed by 
WiUiam Paterson, a Scotchman, but was now adopted 
by Montague with great success. The subscribers were 
formed into a corporation as the Governor and Company 



222 The Fall of the Stuarts y ^c. a.d. 

of the Bank of England. The original rate of interest 
was fixed at eight per cent. 

A great part of the time of this Second Parliament 
was spent in discussions on the proper securities for 
justice in trials for treason, on which the difference be- 
tween Lords and Commons was such that the decision 
was delayed until the first session of the next Parliament 
( chapter xx. ). 

Another debated question was the Place Bill. Its aim 
was to prevent all persons holding offices of 
trust and emolument under the crown from 
sitting in the House of Commons. Doubtless, it is dis- 
advantageous that the Lower House should be filled with 
office-holders, but, on the other hand, nothing could be 
more injurious to the welfare of the country than to ex- 
clude from the Commons all the great functionaries of 
state. Those who voted for this bill probably did not 
consider that the inevitable result of its becoming law 
would have been, that all the great offices of state would 
be filled, and the country governed by members of the 
House of Lords. The bill passed the Commons in 1692- 
3, but was rejected by the Lords by a small majority 
of three. 

In 1693-4, the Place Bill passed both Houses, but the 
king refused his assent. On this being anounced, a 
„ -,.„ warm debate arose in the Commons, and it 

Place Bill 

passed, but was proposed that the king should be asked 
revised! his reason for refusing assent. The motion 

was, however, rejected by a large majority, 
the House thus, with great moderation, acknowledging 
the power of giving a veto as then resting with the 
crown. 

Another bill on which there was a similar difference 
between king and parliament came to a different issue. 



1694- Parliament J i6go-i6gS' 223 

This was a bill for triennial Parliaments. It Triennial 
was a very short bill, and only provided ^i'l- 
that no future Parliament should last longer than three 
years. It was intended to prevent the recurrence of such 
conduct as that of Charles II,, in continuing one Parlia- 
ment for seventeen years. The king had refused his 
assent to this bill, when it passed both Houses in 1692-3. 

Two years afterwards this Triennial Bill at last became 
law. In 1694-5, Parliament coupled it with a Triennial 
bill of supply, and the want of these supplies, ^''' passed. 
and the fear of probable disturbances if Mary died (for 
the queen was now seriously ill), perhaps induced Wil- 
liam to give his assent. The Triennial Act remained in 
force until the Septennial Act was passed, twenty years 
afterwards. 

Small-pox was particularly virulent in the year 1694. 
Among those attacked in the month of December was 
Oueen Mary. Great alarm was at once felt 
by her friends, and William showed so much death^oT 
grief as to astonish those around him, for he ^il^^ 
was never in the habit of letting others see 
him exhibit strong feeling. Now, however he broke down. 
He burst into tears and said, "that from being the 
happiest he was now going to be the miserablest creature 
upon earth." In a few days all hope was at an end. 
Mary's behaviour to the last was remarkable. She never 
once allowed an impatient word to escape her; with the 
utmost calmness she gave the last directions to her ser- 
vants ; she addressed expressions of comfort and conso- 
lation to the king, and showed the greatest pleasure and 
satisfaction at the attendance of the ministers of religion. 
She died on December 20, aged 33. The grief for her 
death was not confined to the court, for her charity was 
great. "She never inquired of what opinion persons 



2 24 The Fall of the Stuarts , &>€. a.d. 

were who were objects of charity." Handsome in per- 
son, and Uvely in manners, no word of slander was ever 
breathed against her. " Her debts were small, and every- 
thing in that exact method as seldom is found in any 
private person." " I'm sure," says one who was no par- 
tisan of William of Orange, " she was as admirable a 
woman, as does if possible, outdo the renowned Queen 
Elizabeth." 

No act of James* life showed more his mean and 
revengeful disposition than his request to Lewis that the 
French court should not put on mourning for his daugh- 
ter's death. 

The liberty of the press was recognised in 1695. 
Hitherto the publication of books had been 

Censorship 

of press restrained by an act of parliament, renewed 

abandoned. ,, i • i • j i i 

every three years, which required every book 
to be licensed. All legal works had to receive the " im- 
primatur," or permission to be printed, of the lord chan- 
cellor or his deputy ; all books on history and politics, 
the license of one of the secretaries of state or his deputy ; 
and all treatises on divinity, physic, or philosophy, that 
of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The last act to re- 
strain unlicensed printing had been passed in 1692, and 
in 1695 the time for which it was in force expired. No 
new act was brought forward in the House, and thus 
the censorship of the press was quietly abandoned. 

The last weeks of the session of 1695 disclosed a sys- 
tem of wide-spread corruption among the members of 

both Houses. The Speaker of the House 
vlJen?' ^'^^" °^ Commons, confessing to having received 

bribes, was expelled the House. The Com- 
mons prepared to impeach various officials. The Duke 
of Leeds (to which title the Marquis of Carmarthen, for- 
merly Earl of" Danby, was now raised), proposing to de- 



1 695- Disgrace of Marlborough. 225 

fend some of those accused, was himself threatened with 
impeachment. At this juncture the king 
suddenly prorogued the Parliament, and in J^spfv^d?' 
the following October it was dissolved. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



VARIOUS PLOTS AGAINST WILLIAM. PROGRESS OF THE 
WAR IN 1695. 

Section I.— Disgrace of Marlborough, 

In narrating the defeat off Beachy Head, and the conse- 
quent court-martial on Torrington, attention was directed 
to the extraordinary reaction in the public feeling, which, 
at first directed against Torrington, suddenly turned in 
his favor. The cause of this reaction was stated to be 
jealousy of the Dutch. This jealousy continued to in- 
crease. William was supposed to look after 

_- , . . ^ , Jealousy felt 

Dutch mterests m preference, and some- by the Eng- 
times in opposition, to English interests HolkiTd?^^ 
Few Englishmen of that day could appreci- 
ate the Continental policy of William. He was popular- 
ly thought to be carrying on the war to maintain the in- 
tegrity of the United Provinces, and to secure his own 
seat on the English throne. Englishmen could not un- 
derstand that he was struggling to deliver Europe from 
slavery to Lewis XIV. 

Marlborough probably shared these popular preju- 
dices, or, if he did not, he made use of them for his own 
purposes. At all events, he thought he was not suffi- 

Q 



226 The Fall of the Stuarts y &=€. a.d. 

ciently rewarded by William. After his brilliant and 
dashing campaign in the south of Ireland, he saw a 
Dutchman, Ginkell, appointed in the next spring to lead 
^. ^ . the army in Ireland, whilst he was carried 

Disaffection 

of Marl- off by William to attend on him in the 

°^°"^ ■ campaign of 1691, and was not entrusted 

with an independent command. Marlborough's spirit 
chafed against being employed in a secondary position. 
He had confidence in his own military genius, and knew 
it to be superior to that of William's favored Dutch gene- 
rals. He was determined no longer to serve a master 
who did not value him. He strove in the first place to 
weaken William's influence by fomenting, among offi- 
cers in the army and navy, and members of both Houses 
of Parliament, the feeling of jealousy towards the Dutch. 
He next entered into close communications with the late 
king at St. Germains. But he was sure that England 
would not submit to the resumption of the throne by 
James Stuart. He therefore planned another solution of 
the difficulty, which would at the same time promote his 
own interests. 

Lady Marlborough was the attendant and confidentis^ 
friend of the Princess Anne. The princess was indolent, 

good-tempered, and pliant. Lady Marl- 
borou^^and borough was strong-minded, imperious, and 
Anne""^*^^^* ambitious. They were on such familiar 

terms that the princess was habitually ad- 
dressed by Lady Marlborough as Mrs. Morley, and Lady 
Marlborough by the princess as Mrs. Freeman. Marl- 
borough's scheme was by making use of the feeling of 
jealousy towards the Dutch to render William hated ; 
then, with the co-operation of France, to drive him out 
of England; and then to proclaim the Princess Anne, 
who would be ruled altogether by himself and his wife. 



1692. Grandvar s Plot. 227 

Thus he hoped to outwit William, Lewis, 
and the Jacobites. But there were those at borough's 
the court of St. Germains who remembered rev^leZto 
the perfidy of the former proteg6 of James, Wiiham. 
and who placed no trust in the sincerity of his present 
professions. They thought he was either endeavoring 
to gain further favor with William by betraying the Eng- 
lish Jacobites, or that he had some scheme in his head 
similar to the one he had so adroitly planned. They 
therefore forwarded to the English minister a full ac- 
count of Marlborough's dealings with the court of James. 
William would have liked to bring Marlborough to 
trial ; but since the evidence of his guilt could not be 
produced in court without betraying the con- 
fidence of those who had sent the informa- and^his°w?fe^ 
lion, he dismissed him from all his offices cSiTt.''^"^ ^'''"" 
on January 10, 1692. The Princess Anne 
was ordered at the same time to send away Lady Marl- 
borough, This she would not consent to do. Anne, 
therefore, and her husband, Prince George of Denmark, 
were desired forthwith to leave the court, and they re- 
tired to Sion House, remaining for a long time in disgrace 
with William. 

Section IL — Plots of Fuller, Grandval and Chamock. 

All through the winter of 169 1-2 vague misgivings 
were floating through society, those misgivings which are 
so indicative of deep-seated popular dissatisfaction. Men 
felt that plots were being hatched, and that the times 
were troublous. This was a condition favorable to the 
growth of false witnesses. An apt pupil of Titus Gates, 
one Fuller, a man who had failed to make a living by 
obtaining money under false pretences, came forward, 
and accused more than fifty noblemen and gentlemen 



2 28 The Fall of the Stuarts, ^^c. a.d 

of signing an address to Lewis, which begged him to pu 
forth one more great effort for the Stuarts. Doubtless 
some such address was being prepared b] 
^"d*d^ T^' ^^ Jacobite party in England, for addresse; 
of this kind were constantly forwarded t( 
St. Germains for transmission to Versailles. But the per 
sons accused by Fuller were able to escape conviction 
On cross-examination his tale broke down, ministers an( 
lawyers proving less credulous than in the time of hi 
tutor, Oates. So Fuller was himself tried, and was con 
victed and sentenced as a common rogue and vagabond 

William fortunately escaped falling a victim to 
dangerous plot which was concocted against his life 
Louvois, Lewis' minister, when on his death-bed pre 
posed that William should be murdered whilst with th 
allied army in the Netherlands. He found a Frenchma 
named Grandval willing to undertake to carry out th 
design. Grandval accordingly sought fc 
G^ij^^^val's accomplices, and thought he had found fittin 
ones in Dumont, a Walloon, and Liefdal( 
a Dutchman. In company with these he entered th 
Low Countries, but soon found himself brought a prisont 
into the camp of William, for both his accomphces ha 
betrayed him. Soon after the battle of Steinkirk he Wc 
tried by a court-martial. Before his judges he made 
full confession, and acknowledged that he had had 
parting interview with James and his wife, both of whoi 
had been gracious to him, and promised him large r( 
wards if successful. Grandval was found guilty an 
executed. 

Both Louvois and his master Lewis showed in th 
affair, as in the devastation of the Palatinate, their utt( 
disregard for the laws of war among civilized nation 
The discovery of this plot made the Whigs sympathij 



1692. Gi'andvaV s Plot. 229 

more with William, and show less antipathy to his tried 
Dutch friends. They now became aware of the dangers 
to which he was exposed. The Jacobites also let James 
and Lewis know that any further attempts 
against the person of William would, if un- pio^ts^agalnst 
successful, serve only to render William wnn'am^^ 
more popular, and, if successful, would not 
assure the return of James to England. No fresh con- 
spiracies against the life of William had therefore been 
encouraged by James, until after the death of Queen 
Mary, although Jacobite intrigues against William's 
government were being continuously carried on. But in 
the year 1695 the position of affairs was altered. Queen 
Mary was dead, and William sat alone on the throne, a 
foreigner, and not very popular. At the same time the 
French resources were failing, and the allies were gaining 
strength. Home politics in England were in an unsettled 
state. The Jacobites therefore began to bestir them- 
selves more actively, and to urge their correspondents 
in England to be on the alert. Thus roused, a conspi- 
racy was formed, of which the ruling spirit was Charnock, 
a late fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, who, whilst 
James was reigning, had become a convert to Romanism, 
and was now an unscrupulous Jacobite agent. With 
him were associated Porter and Goodman, men of infa- 
mous character. Sir William Parkyns, a prominent Tory 
lawyer, and Sir John Fenwick, formerly member of par- 
liament for Northumberland, who had made himself 
notorious by passing Queen Mary in public without 
saluting her, and in such a manner as to show that he 
intended to insult her. Time slipped away, so that 
before the conspirators had matured any possible plan, 
William had started for Holland. They determined, 
therefore, to send Charnock to St. Germains to arrange 



230 The Fall of the Stuarts, &*€. a.d. 

with the ministers of James their future plans, and to 
obtain the approval of James and the active co-opera- 
tion of Lewis XIV. 



Section III. — Capture of Namur by William. 

On January 5, 1695, Marshal Luxembourg died. This 
was a great loss to Lewis, for he had no other general of 
equal ability. In place of Luxembourg, Marshal Villeroi 
was sent to the Netherlands. Villeroi was a great fa- 
,^.„ . vorite at court, and had the reputation of 

Villeroi com- 
mands the bemg a consummate master of the art of 

Netherlands.^ war. One of the French court historians 
says that the opening of this campaign was 
a beautiful game of chess. William, however, through- 
out the campaign, fairly out-generalled Villeroi. He 
had never out-generalled Luxembourg. 

The allied forces in the Netherlands numbered about 

125,000. Villeroi had under him over 100,000. At the 

beginning of June William was ready to begin the cam- 

, . paign. His plan was to threaten Ypres, to 

William's ^ ^ „ , ^ , , . , ,. • 

tactics draw all the French forces m that direction 

\^rieroi. to the westwards, and then suddenly to be- 

siege Namur in force. In accordance with 
this design, he marched from Brussels to Rousselaer 
with 53,000 men. Thence he made a strong demonstra- 
tion against Villeroi's camp near Ypres. Finding Vil- 
leroi in strength, William withdrew from the allied army, 
taking with him the main body of his cavalry, and 
leaving Charles Henry, Prince of Vaudemont, to com- 
mand a force reduced to about 35,000. William reached 
the army of the allies, which was commanded by the 
Elector of Bavaria, and consisted of 36,000 men, and 
marching eastward with these, effected a junction with 



1 695- Capture of Namur. 231 

the Brandenburgers (now Prussians) who were about 
12,000 strong. The united army appeared before Namur. 

The garrison of Namur, consisting of 12,000 men, 
was commanded by Boufflers, 

Villeroi, knowing how comparatively weak Vaude- 
mont was, hoped to crush him easily ; but 

,., V>i Villeroi 

Vaudemont retreated so speedily to Ghent bombards 

that Villeroi was unable to bring him to '^"^^^ "' 

action. Villeroi early in July took Dixmuide and 
Deynse, and then intended again to march against 
Vaudemont. But as Vaudemont had by this time 
marched eastwards from Ghent, Villeroi turned aside 
to bombard Brussels (August 11), and then set out to 
relieve Namur. Vaudemont had already joined William 
before Namur. 

Namur was closely invested by William, who during 
the month of July pressed on the siege, 

,, •• ri_j William 

each day gammg some fresh advantages. captures 

On August 4 the town surrendered, but the amur. 

citadel (into which the garrison, reduced now to 7,000 
men, had retired) still held out. On August 30 the 
allies tried to carry the citadel by storm, but were re- 
pulsed with great loss. Villeroi, who had arrived near 
the investing army, in vain sought to find some weak 
point through which he might pierce the line of the 
allies and relieve the besieged. But William's position 
was too strong for him, and he was eventually compelled 
to withdraw. Boufflers, seeing the besiegers preparing 
to make another assault on the citadel, proposed (Sep- 
tember i) to capitulate, and his proposal was accepted 
by William. The loss of the garrison during the siege 
was 6,500, that of the besiegers no less than 9,000. 
With the capture of Namur the campaign of 1695 in 
the Netherlands virtually came to an end. William re- 



232 JTie Fall of the Stuarts, &*c. a.d. 

turned to England, and about the same time Villeroi 
sent his army into winter quarters. 

Nothing of importance occurred this year on the 
Rhine. The Duke of Savoy had been se- 
TOyin°secret cretly gained over by Lewis. Although 
league with ^^^ nominally a party to the Grand Alliance, 
he had promised Lewis to do all he could 
in the councils of the allies to promote the wishes of the 
French king. In consideration of this, and to blind the 
eyes of William and the Emperor, Cassale, in North 
Italy, after a mock siege, was surrendered by the French 
to the Duke of Savoy. 

The campaign resulted in a great gain to the allies. 
Lewis' resources were still further weakened, and the 
French had no longer a superiority in generalship. 
Moreover, the capture of Namur, following closely on 
that of Huy, made a great moral impression on Europe. 
Namur was the first of Lewis' conquests of which he 
had been deprived by force, and this seemed to make a 
turn in the tide. 



CHAPTER XX. 



THE NEW PARLIAMENT. THE ASSASSINATION PLOT. 
THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR, 1696. 

Section I. — The Session of i6gyi6g6. 

On October ii, 1695, William dissolved Parliament, 
and summoned the new one to meet on November 22. 
When it assembled, it was proved that it contained a 
decided Whig majority. There were causes, partly 
political and partly social, for the change from a Tory 



1 695* New Parliament. 233 

majority to a Whig one. The poHtical causes were the 
dislike felt by the country to the continued 
factious opposition of the Jacobites, not JJ^/f™^^^'^ 
only to William, but also to English inte- "^^ Parlia- 
rests; and the feelmg of msecunty pro- 
voked by the constant apprehension of plots and insur- 
rections. The social causes were the high price of corn 
and the bad state of the coinage. At this time consid- 
erable distress was felt in England. From 1692 to 1699, 
a succession of bad seasons produced bad crops. These 
years were in the west of Europe known as the "seven 
barren years." For some years past the silver coinage 
of England had suffered continual depreciation by the 
knavery of a gang of thieves known as "clippers," who 
had, by various ingenious tricks, diminished the weight 
of the coins by one half. Those into whose hands good 
coins of full weight came, hoarded them, so that only 
the bad money was in circulation. It is stated that four 
millions of bad money were in use. The price of corn 
and all necessary articles of food and manufacture 
seemed, therefore, still further artificially increased by 
the dearth of good money, and the depreciation of that 
which was in use. 

The session lasted until April, 1696. The state of the 
coinage at once occupied the attention of Parliament. An 
act was passed calling in the "clipped" money, and 
raising 1,200,000/. by a duty on houses to 
defray the consequent loss. The act also ]^^.^ 

-" * Coinage. 

announced that the depreciated coin would 
be received as payment of taxes. A new coinage was 
ordered to be struck, and in order that every possible care 
might be taken to insure that the new money should be 
of correct weight, the great mathematician, Sir Isaac 
Newton, was appointed master of the mint. 



234 The Fall of the Stuarts J ^c. a.d. 

An important bill, for regulating trials for treason, had 
been introduced into the House of Commons in the ses- 
sion of 1690-1 ; but, on its being sent up to the Lords, a 
clause was introduced to which the Commons 
would not assent, and the bill was conse- 
quently dropped. Though three attempts were made, the 
bill never passed the Lords during the continuance of the 
second Parliament. As it passed in the Commons, it was 
an additional safeguard to the liberties of Englishmen. 
It enacted ( I.) That the accused, in trials for treason, 
should be furnished with a copy of his indictment at a 
small fee; (2.) That he should be allowed counsel to de- 
fend him ; (3.) That no one should be indicted except 
on the oaths of two witnesses, and within three years of 
the alleged commitment of the offence ; (4.) That a list 
of the jury should be furnished to the accused ; (5.) That 
the accused should have the power of summoning 
witnesses. 

During the first session of this new Parlia- 
p^sai."^ ' ment the Treason Bill at length passed both 
Houses, and became law. 



Section II. — The Assassination Plot. 

The Jacobites had vainly solicited Lewis XIV. to send 
an army into England whilst William was absent in Hol- 
land in 1695, and their representations to the court of 
Versailles had been supported by Charnock, 

Lewis again • , x .- i, aA A 

encourages m whom James seems to have confided, 
ejaco ites. jsjq^^ however, that Namur had fallen, 
Lewis found himself reduced to desperate straits, and 
thought it advisable again to encourage conspirators. 
He was not averse to any means that would rid him of 
his enemy, William of Orange. Two plots were accord- 



1696. Assassination Plot. 235 

ingly matured, of both of which the courts of Versailles 
and St. Germains were cognizant. 

The one plot proposed an invasion of England, to 
follow a rising of the Jacobites. The Duke of Berwick, 
an illegitimate son of James, was accordingly sent in dis- 
guise to England to make arrangements for 
the insurrection, and at the same time a Proposed 

invasion. 

large body of troops was collected at Calais, 

under the command of Boufflers, to cross the straits of 

Dover so soon as the Jacobites should have declared 

themselves. 

The other plot had for its object the assassination of 
King William. The carrying out of this plot was in- 
trusted to Sir George Barclay, a Scotch follower of Dun- 
dee, and a bold and unscrupulous man. He obtained 
the assistance of Charnock, Fenwick, Parkyns, and of 
all those who had joined with Charnock in the prece- 
ding year. Numerous consultations took place, and at 
last a scheme of assassinating William on his return 
from hunting at Richmond was finally adopted. The 
day fixed for the deed was February 1 5 ; but Bentinck, 
Earl of Portland, the old and tried friend of WiUiam, 
had received information from one of the conspirators 
of the intended attempt, and had persuaded the king 
not to hunt on that day. The conspirators had assem- 
bled to the number of forty, and were in high spirits, for 
they thought they were sure of success, as they had 
managed to gain over by bribery some of the royal 
guards, when they were told that the hunt had been 
postponed to that day week, the 22d. Portland, in the 
meantime, obtained further proof of the plot. Again the 
hunting party was countermanded, and the conspirators 
began to fancy they were discovered. Their uncertainty 
lasted but a short time, for before the end of the day 



236 The Fall of the SiuartSy &*c. a.d. 

many were arrested, Charnock and Parky ns 
Assassination amongst them, whilst a few, amongst whom 
were Fenwick and Barclay, escaped. Char- 
nock immediately offered to turn king's evidence. He 
said that if his punishment were commuted from death to 
imprisonment he would reveal the names of all those in 
England cognizant of either of the present plots, and 
also of past ones. William knew that the fortunes of 
his false and treacherous courtiers would be at his 
mercy, but magnanimously refused to hear Charnock' s 
confessions. 

Most of those who were taken were convicted and 
executed. The failure of the Assassination Plot 
caused the postponement of the proposed Jacobite 
rising, and of the consequent invasion of England by 
French troops. 

Both Houses of Parliament received the intelligence 
of the Assassination Plot with horror and disgust. The 
plan of an "Association" was forthwith 
forme?fo?"the drawn up on paper. This " association for 
defence of ^j^g defence of their sovereign and coun- 
try," bound the subscribers to defend Wil- 
liam, to avenge his death if he were killed, and to sup- 
port the order of succession framed by the Bill of 
Rights. Nearly all the members of both Houses signed 
this paper. Similar documents were distributed through- 
out the kingdom, and were signed by the greater num- 
ber of the country gentry and men of influence. 

The formation of the Association not merely strength- 
ened William's seat on the throne, but also 

Consequence 

of the failure gave additional influence to the Whigs. The 

^ ^^ collapse of the plot, and the treachery of 

one or more of the conspirators, proved also to those 

Englishmen who were still inclined to intrigue with St. 



1696. Campaign of i6g6. 237 

Germains, that but little reliance could be placed on the 
good faith or discretion of James and his advisers. 
Many, therefore, of those who were wavering in their 
allegiance to William, no longer opposed him. 



Section III. — The Cajnpaign of i6g6. 

The campaign of this year was rendered almost ridicu- 
lous by the paltry results gained by the large armies in 
the field. Lewis, prevented by the failure of the Assas- 
sination Plot from making any direct attempt on Eng- 
land by invasion, was at the same time unwilling to risk 
his troops against the strong army collected by the allies 
in the Netherlands, for William and Vaude- 

Inaction in 

mont had at least 250,000 men under their the Nether- 
command. The French soldiers were not 
only inferior in numbers, but were, also, for the most 
part, raw recruits, and were discontented, being in ar- 
rears of pay. Villeroi accordingly did nothing but 
watch William, who, on his side, was unwilling to risk in 
battle the advantages he saw that he must gain by merely 
compelling Lewis to keep large armies in the field, at a 
time when the French, both as regarded their finances 
and recruits, were in so exhausted a condition. 

The Duke of Savoy openly declared his desertion 
from the allies, and concluded ( August 14 ) an offen- 
sive and defensive alliance with Lewis. Immediately 
joining his army to the French one. Neutrality 
under Catinat, he threatened Milan. In con- o^ Italy, 
sequence of this an agreement was entered into between 
the allies on the one hand, and the Pope and the other 
Italian powers on the other hand, that the Italian pe- 
ninsula should be deemed neutral. Lewis had therefore 
no longer to provide for the safety of his south-eastern 



238 The Fall of the Stuarts^ dr'c. a.d. 

frontier, and had the army of the Duke of Savoy at his 
disposal. 

Section IV. — Tht; Session idgd-idgj of the Parliament. 

Sir John Fenwick had, after the discovery of the As- 
sassination Plot, attempted to fly to France ; but, al- 
though for some time he continued to escape those who 
were seeking for him, he was eventually captured when 
in hiding at New Romney in Kent. The chief evidence 
implicating Fenwick had been given by Goodman and 
Porter; but before Fenwick could be brought to trial, 
Goodman had been persuaded to leave England, so that 
now Porter was the only witness against him. As the 
_,.„ - . Treason Act, passed in the last session, re- 

BiU of attain- , , ^ 

der against quired two witnesses, it became impossible 
Fenwick. to obtain a conviction in course of law. But 

Fenwick was personally so odious to 
William, on account of his behaviour to the late Queen 
Mary, that the ministers were pressed by the king to de- 
vise some means of punishing him. There was no moral 
doubt of Fenwick's guilt, and there was direct proof 
that Lady Mary Fenwick ( his wife ) had tampered with 
Goodman and got him out of the kingdom. 

A bill of attainder against Sir John Fenwick was con- 
sequently brought into the Commons, so that the legal 
evidence could be supplied by the depositions previous- 
ly made by Goodman before the privy council, and by 
what he had sworn before the grand jury in the trial of 
the others concerned in the plot. The discussions which 
took place in the Commons were long and lively, and 
the motion for the bill was ultimately carried by a very 
small majority. In the Lords, it is doubtful if the bill 
would have been carried at all, had not Fenwick injudi- 
ciously offered to make disclosures of the intrigues of 



1697* Peace of Ryswick. 239 

various English statesmen with James. Many Tories, 
therefore, Marlborough amongst them, voted for the bill, 
in order that Fenwick's confession might be averted. 
The strong opposition to the bill, which provided for the 
punishment of a man obviously guilty, and which was 
wished for by the king, is a proof of the jealous and 
watchful care for the liberty of the subject now taken by 
the Parliament. 

Fenwick was, on January 11, 1697, "convicted and 
attaintedof high treason, and condemned to 
suffer the pains of death, and to incur all fx^cuted 
forfeitures, as a person in due course of law 
convicted of high treason.*' On January 28 he was exe- 
cuted. 

Another attempt was made this session to revive the 
licensing of the press. One of the newspapers estab- 
lished since the censorship of the press had been aban- 
doned (1695) had inserted a paragraph which was stated 
to call in question the credit of the exche- 
quer bills issued by the Government. A bill licensing the 
was therefore brought into Parliament to PgcTed^^' 
prevent the publication of news without the 
authority of the secretary of state, but it was rejected. 

On April 16 William adjourned Parliament, and on 
the 26th sailed for Holland. Before his departure he cre- 
ated Somers a peer, and made him lord chancellor; 
Montague he made first lord of the treasury, and Russell 
was created Earl of Orford. 

Section V. — Peace of Ryswick, 

The year 1697 broke with a gloomy outlook for all the 
warring nations, but most of all for France. 

The " seven barren years " were felt more in France 
than in England. Since 1692 the distress had increased 



24© The Fall of the Stuarts y ^'c. A.D. 

yearly. The taxes failed to produce money 
Franc" '" enough to support the war, and yet many 

heads of families were unable to earn in the 
course of the year as much as they were expected to pay 
in taxes alone. The crops failed utterly. Absolute ruin 
stared Lewis in the face, and French financiers could 
devise no remedy. England and Holland also were not 
^ , , . averse to peace, if only France was hum- 

Ji,nglana and ^ ^ 

H.Uandde- bled, the pretensions of Lcwis to direct the 

policy of Western Europe brought to an end, 
and the claims of the Stuarts set at rest. EngHsh and 
Dutch commerce had suffered much from the depreda- 
tions of French privateers, and England had besides its 
own currency troubles, and had also suffered from a 
partial failure of the crops. 

The health of the King of Spain was becoming worse. 

If he were to die, the succession to the 
Spanish sue- throne would be disputed, and William felt 

sure that fresh complications would arise 
which would endanger the alliance. He therefore 
thought the present a good opportunity to propose pre- 
liminaries of peace. 

The Emperor was not so desirous or willing, but he 
was informed that if he would not consent to discuss 
preliminaries, England and Holland would conclude a 
peace with France on their own account. He therefore 
agreed to send plenipotentiaries to Ryswick, a village in 
Holland, between the Hague and Delft, where William 

had a palace. A congress met there on 
tiaries meet May 9 at which Were present accredited 
yswic . agents from all the allies, and from Lewis 
and the Duke of Saxony. For weeks the congress 
discussed matters, but could arrive at no satisfactory 
conclusions. 



i697« Peace of Ryswick. 241 

Near Brussels the English and French armies faced 
each other. Bentinck, Lord Portland, was with the Eng- 
lish army ; Boufiflers commanded the French. 
William proposed that these two should Bentinck^" 
meet, and see if they could not agree to ^^^°^ 
some basis on which treaties could be ar- 
ranged. Lewis consented, and after six meetings the 
chief points of the negotiation were settled and written 
out. 

On September 20 three several treaties were made, 
between France on the one hand, and England, Hol- 
land, and Spain on the other. 

The treaty with Great Britain provided that both 
France and England should restore the conquests they 
had respectively made in America; that 
Lewis should no longer foster intrigues in tween 
England, and that William should not en- Engknd."'^ 
courage French Protestants in rebellion; 
and that Lewis should recognize William III. as lawful 
king of Great Britain and Ireland, and should no longer 
afford any assistance to James Stuart. By 
the treaty with Holland, France gave the J^|e J" ^®' 
Dutch certain commercial advantages, and France and 
received back from them Pondicherry, in and between 
India, which they had conquered. By the I'^^l'; ^"'^ 
treaty with Spain, Lewis restored all con- 
quests in Catalonia, and all those places in the Spanish 
Netherlands taken by him in the war, and those which 
the " chambers of reunion " had granted him since the 
peace of Nimwegen. The Emperor still held aloof. A 
special article had been inserted in the treaties already 
signed, that the month of October should be allowed to 
the Emperor and the princes of the empire to come to a 
decision. On October 30 the plenipotentiaries of the 

R 



242 The Fall of the Stuarts y &*c. a.d. 

Emperor signed a treaty with Lewis. By this treaty 

Lewis restored all the provinces and towns 

between which he had taken by decrees of the 

France and "chambers of reunion," except Elsass 

(jermany. 

(Alsace), which now became a French pro- 
vince. Lothringen (Lorraine) was again restored to its 
duke. Lewis inserted one clause, viz, " that the Roman 
Catholic religion should remain in the places restored on 
the same footing as it then was." This clause has been, 
and still is, productive of much social dissension among 
Germans. Had the Emperor been less backward in 
concluding the treaty, he would have obtained more ad- 
vantageous terms, but Lewis having already made sure 
of peace with England, Holland, and Spain, was able to 
hold out more firmly against the demands of the Empe- 
ror, and to insist on the retention of Elsass (Alsace). 

The results of the treaty of Ryswick may appear 
Results of small as far as territorial changes are con- 
^e peace of sidered. France, however, now lost ground. 
She was again forced to confine herself, with 
one exception (Elsass), to the limits set down for her 
at the peace of Nimwegen (1678). But the great result 
was that England formed in Western Europe the coun- 
terpoise which preserved the balance of power. The 
alliance of England was henceforth sought by any state 
suffering from the encroachments of France, 
Europe ^^"^ ^"^^ °^^ hundred and fifty years it con- 

tinued to be the policy of England to ally 
herself with those nations opposed to France. A second, 
though temporary, result was that Europe now had some 
breathing time to prepare for what William knew was 
imminent, the general struggle which must take place 
at the death of the childless King of Spain, and the 
consequent breaking up of the great Spanish dominions. 



1 69 7- Peace of Ryswick. 24 j 

The result of the treaty of Ryswick to Great Britain 
was much more advantageous than it at first appeared. 
By acknowledging William as king of Eng- 
land, and giving up the House of Stuart, England 
Lewis practically relieved England from all 
fears of invasion, and of losing its independence. " For," 
says a great modern historian, "that danger which has 
sometimes been in our countrymen's mouths, with little 
meaning, of becoming a province to France, was then 
close and actual ; for I hold the restoration of the House 
of Stuart to be but another expression for that ignominy 
and servitude." 

What was the result of the nine years' fighting as 
regards France ? On the one hand a slight territorial 
gain, which has caused a constant irritation between her 
and Germany ; on the other hand the 
people had become impoverished, and in France. 

consequence oppressed by nobles and tax- 
gatherers ; the love of war and glory was engendered 
amongst the soldiers, forming them into a distinct class, 
with few feelings in common with the nation ; a desire 
had arisen amongst all Frenchmen for increase of ter- 
ritory ; and there had been a loosening of all the ties 
which unite society together. Many of the horrors of the 
French Revolution, and the sufferings of France in the 
present century, may be directly traced to the pernicious 
policy of Lewis XIV. and his courtiers. 

England had made great strides since the accession 
of Charles II. Her exports had wonderfully increased. 
The North American Colonies and West Indies had 
opened great fields for trade. Her connection with Hol- 
land under William III. had widened her commercial 
dealings. The Huguenot refugees had become some of 
her most industrious citizens. The war which had ruined 



244 The Fall of the Stuarts y 6r'<r. a.d. 

France had not really impoverished England. The 
money expended in it was being returned with large in- 
terest by the increase of trade, caused in great part by 
the high position which England now occupied among 
European states, and the advantages he was able to 
secure for her commerce through this position. 

And for these substantial results England is indebted 
to William III. His patient industry, his far-seeing 
policy, and his constancy in struggling against the for- 
tune of war, were the means notonly of raising England 
to a position equal to that of France in the consideration 
of European Powers, but were also the means of rousing 
again in the hearts of Englishmen patriotism, enterprise, 
and self-reliance. Notwithstanding his foreign habits, 
his faults of manner, and his predilection for his Dutch 
friends, the majority of Englishmen had learnt at the 
close of the seventeenth century, not only to respect but 
also to love the trustworthy Hollander, William of 
Orange, whom they had chosen for their king, in place 
of the false Stuart. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



Literature and Science in England and France in the 
latter part of the Seventeenth Century. 

The Renaissance, or revival of learning and art, had, 
in Italy, France, and Germany, sent men back to the 
study of the great writers of antiquity. Classical authors 
were esteemed with an almost superstitious veneration, 
but the result nevertheless was that men's intellects were 
made active, and the way was cleared for the advent of 



Literature and Science. 245 

the great religious revolution, the Protestant Reformation. 
With the Reformation arrived a further in- 

- . „ 1 . . ,, Effect of the 

crease of mtellectual activity. Men set Reformation 
themselves not only to work out theological and HtTra- 
problems, but also to prosecute scientific in- ^"''^• 
vestigations. Freedom of thought came, and the chains 
which had bound students to their classical models were 
forthwith cast off. 

In England the Renaissance had not preceded the 
Reformation. The wars of York and Lancaster, and the 
unsettled succession to the throne, had hitherto kept 
England in intellectual darkness. Bright lights, such as 
Chaucer (1328- 1400), here and there pierced the dark- 
ness, but it was the Reformation which, in England, 
caused the revival of the study of Greek and Hebrew, 
and which, with more rapid steps than on the Continent, 
led to original thought and original research. 

The first half of the seventeenth century, which was 
rendered famous in England by our great philosopher, 
Bacon (i 561-1626), was made no less so in France by 
his followers, the illustrious philosophers and mathema- 
ticians, Descartes (i 596-1650) and Pascal (1623- 1662). 

But when the despotic power of Lewis XIV. came to 
its height, then freedom of thought vanished in France. 
Lewis could not brook originality. He de- ^^ 

1 1 1 1 J Effect of the 

sired that his subjects should not only do as patronage of 
he ordered them, but that they should also ^^'^" 
believe as he told them, and think as he wished them. 
He adopted therefore the plan of patronizing men of 
genius ; that is to say, of making them mean-spirited and 
venal, " utterly unfit to fulfil their great vocation as the 
apostles of knowledge and the missionaries of truth." 
The result was that originality was crushed. 
The great authors, philosophers, artists, and archi- 



246 The Fall of the Stuarts i ^c a.d. 

tects, whose writings and works are said to grace the 
age of Lewis XIV., produced their best before the so- 
called patronage of the king had time to show its 
effects. Year after year during his reign authors exhib- 
ited less power, and more and more imitated classical 
models. They feared to be original. Originality meant 
independence of thought, and they knew that Lewis 
hated independence. Their writings were indeed 
marked by the utmost polish, and by that refined wit for 
which French writers are conspicuous, but they were ar- 
tificial. Racine (1639- 1699), Moliere (1622- 1673), Boileau 
(1636-1711), and La Fontaine (1621-1695), showed one 
and all that their great natural powers were enfeebled 
by the enervating influence of patronage. Patronage 
was under Lewis made to play the same part in litera- 
ture and art that bribery did in politics. 

Freedom of thought, the offspring of the Reforma- 
tion, which had taken firm root in the English character, 
and which had already produced Spenser, Bacon, 
Shakespeare and Milton, might have been stifled, as it 
was in France, if Charles IL could have succeeded in 
throwing over literature the mantle of his patronage. 
Following the example of his patron and adviser, Lewis, 
Charles began his reign by patronizing science. Lewis 
had built the Observatory at Paris, Charles founded the 
Royal Society (1662). When first incorpo- 
beSnrto rated, this Society, which has done such 

patronize noble work in encouraging original re- 

founding the search, bade fair to become a fashionable 
Soaety. toy. But Charles had neither the inclina- 

tion to amuse himself with scientific play- 
things nor the money to spend in patronizing men of 
science. Therefore the Society flourished on its merit, 
and therefore it may boast of having on its roll of Fel- 



Literature in England and France. 247 

lows at this time four of the greatest scientific men Eu- 
rope has ever known : Newton (1642-1727), the mathe- 
matician ; Boyle (1627- 1 690), the chemist; Ray (1628- 
1705), the zoologist and botanist; and Sydenham 
(1624- 1689), the physician. 

The vigorous activity of the intellectual life in Eng- 
land produced by freedom of thought was 
displayed no less in theology than in science. patronage 
Charles had no religious feelings and no re- 
ligious belief. On his death-bed he became a papist. 
James was an open papist. Under neither king were 
writers who made a philosophic study of 

. Works 

theology likely to be patronized. The Cam- produced in 
bridge Platonists, therefore, More (i6^- wUhou^ 
1687), Cudworth (161 7- 1687), and Culver- Patronage, 
well, who sowed the seed which eventually ripened into 
broader and nobler ideas of religious liberty and reli- 
gious tolerance, were inspired solely by their love of truth 
and received no church or political preferment, while 
Bunyan (1628-1688), under the fire of persecution and 
not under the patronage of court and fashion, pro- 
duced his immortal allegory. 

What England escaped from, had its two last Stuart 
kings taken men of learning under their protection, may 
be gathered from the example of Dryden. 

Dry den (1631-1700) was patronized by James II. 
Under his protection he became a convert to Romanism. 
Of enormous natural gifts, with a pregnant fancy and a 
trenchant wit, he advocated at various times ^ , 

. Dryden a 

opposite causes, at the call of his interest, victim to 
his patron, or his party. He, of course, fol- ^^ nonage. 
lowed classical models in his writings, and is worthy to 
rank with his French brethren in literature. 

Historians have been accustomed to write of the age 



248 The Fall of the Stuarts J &=€. a.d. 

of Lewis XIV. as that in which France was filled with 
a galaxy of talent never surpassed in the history of man- 
kind, if indeed it was ever equalled. The reign of Lewis 
XIV. lasted for 72 years, until the year 171 5, but in that 
part of it treated of in this work, France had fallen 
from her high intellectual estate, not for many years to 
recover it again. England, on the other hand, had 
made the world its debtor for its great work at this 
time in science and philosophy ; and humanity at large 
owes gratitude to the patient and consistent English 
thinkers who proved that the religious and political 
liberty now being established in their country was con- 
sistent with and resulted from the free exercise of reason 
and of thought. 



EPOCHS OF HISTORY. 



"A Series of concise and carefully prepared volumes on special 
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ENGLAND AND EUROPE AT SUCCESSIVE EPOCHS 

SUBSEQUENT TO THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 

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THE CRUSADES. By the Rev. G. W. Cox, M.A. 
THE EARLY PLANTAGE NETS— Their Relation to the History 

of Europe : The Foundation and Growth of Constitutional 

Government. By the Rev. Wm. Stubbs, M.A. 
EDWARD III. By the Rev. W. Warburton, M.A. 
THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK— The Conquest and 

Loss of France. By James Gairdner. 
THE ERA OF THE PROTESTANT REVOLUTION. By Frederic 

Seebohm. With Notes on Books in English relating to the 

Reformation. By Prof, George P. Fisher, D.D. 
THE AGE OF ELIZABETH. By the Rev. M. Creighton, M.A. 
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR, 1618-1648. By Samuel Rawson 

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GREECE AND ROME, AND OF THEIR RELATIONS TO 

OTHER COUNTRIES AT SUCCESSIVE EPOCHS. 

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.EPOCHS OF MODERN HISTORY. 

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A New Edition, Library Style, 



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BD- 142 




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